BIDDEFORD — With the score tied at 2-2 after an even first 40 minutes of play Thursday, it was going to take a little bit of magic ”“ or a little bit of luck ”“ to decide a winner between the Kennebunk and Biddeford boys hockey teams at Biddeford Ice Arena.

The Tigers had a little of both, and got a 4-2 victory as a result.

After tying the game early in the third period, the Rams nearly went ahead with 4:10 remaining, when the puck squirted out of a scrum in the corner and onto the stick of Jack Graydon in front.

But Graydon’s shot was stopped by the shoulder of Biddeford goalie Tom Green, and the Tigers picked the puck up, rushed the other way and scored when Corey Brown’s pass deflected off the skate of a Rams defenseman and into the path of Zack Thompson, who chipped a shot up and over the shoulder of Kennebunk goaltender Michael LeBlanc.

“We got a lucky bounce and it worked out with a goal,” Brown said. “Tommy was making saves all game and Thompson’s been getting big goals at big times. He just happened to be in the right place at the right time and put it in the back of the net.”

“That’s’ like every sport, it comes down to little things like the way the puck bounces,” added Biddeford coach Rich Reissfelder. “It was a great save off his shoulder and then we go down the other way to win it.”

If the go-ahead goal was a bit flukey, Ricky Ruck’s sealer 31 seconds later was anything but. The move started with Brown threading a needle to find Ruck splitting the Rams’ defense, and when LeBlanc came out of his goal in an attempt to knock the puck away, Ruck went around him and scored into the open net to ice things.

“I think luck was with me on that one,” Brown said. “We’ve been building chemistry the past few weeks with our line, but that was a little bit of luck on that pass and we were fortunate enough to get a goal. It was a very nice move by Ricky.”

It was a tough finish for a Kennebunk (4-2-1) team that had battled back from an early 2-0 deficit to level the game 57 seconds into the third, when Boden Beveridge picked up a rebound and finished past Green with a backhander from a tight angle.

Minutes later, the Rams were inches away from taking the lead when Joe Mooney’s shot rung off the cross bar, and Graydon was similarly close before his shot found Green’s left shoulder.

“We got it to 2-2 but we didn’t come out and finish, and in fact went the other way and crumbled,” Rams coach Sean Smith said. “We’ve had one game all year where we’ve really finished it off. But that’s OK. We’re getting there.”

Kennebunk had a chance to take a lead early when two quick Biddeford (3-4-1) penalties created a 5-on-3 power play, but a pushing call on Ryan Keefe ended the two-man advantage after 53 seconds.

Instead it was the Tigers who took the lead seven minutes in, when a bouncing puck landed on the stick of Brown, who finished from close range. Five minutes later it was 2-0, as Biddeford’s Kerry Crepeau deflected Nik Lemieux’s shot past LeBlanc on a power play.

“We’ve started slow a couple times this year,” Smith said. “Unfortunately Ryan gave that kid a little push and they called it, and it cost us the power play. It would have been nice to get some more opportunities out of that, definitely.”

Kennebunk did take advantage of its fourth power play chance of the period with 2:05 left, when Keefe won a faceoff in the Tigers’ zone and Bryce Fraser blasted a shot from the point past Green.

The score remained that way into the third, largely thanks to LeBlanc, who stopped numerous Biddeford breakaways in the opening two periods to keep it a one-goal game.

“Mike LeBlanc had a great game,” Brown said. “He kept them in that game.”

LeBlanc and Green both made 22 saves, with Green’s one mistake coming on the Rams’ second goal, when he caught an edge trying to get back into position after making a save on Fraser and left the goal partially open for Beveridge.

“Give credit to Kennebunk. (Green) was floundering a little bit and they jumped on the loose puck and threw it in from a tough angle,” Reissfelder said. “But I thought we did a great job bouncing back and finishing those last two at the end to ice (the game).”

The Rams will be back in action on Saturday, when they take on Gardiner at 8 p.m. at the University of New England. It will be the first of four games against fellow Class B opponents.

“We’re capable of more than what we showed tonight,” Smith said. ”˜We’ve just got to compete better, and when the game’s close we’ve got to be the alphas and not crumble like we have been.”

On the other side, the Tigers are now off for six days before facing another tough test in perennial power St. Dominic’s on Wednesday at BIA. After a 2-2 tie with Western Class A-leading Scarborough last Saturday and the win over Kennebunk, Brown said he sees the team trending in the right direction.

“It was good to get some points off of Scarborough, and moving forward I think it’s only going to get better,” he said. “Our schedule’s not going to get an easier, but we’re progressing, and I think we just need to work on playing good, hard hockey in all three zones.”

— Staff Writer Cameron Dunbar can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or cdunbar@journaltribune.com.