WINSLOW — It took a little bit of time, but the Winslow boys hockey team finally hit its stride Saturday afternoon at Sukee Arena.

The Black Raiders buried the puck in the back of the net six times in the second period and went on to take a convincing 12-1 win over Houlton/Hodgdon (0-7-0).

Jacob Trask led the way for Winslow (6-2-0) with four goals and an assist, while Alex Berard had two goals and four assists. Jake Larsen chipped in with two goals and three assists and Nick West scored two goals and assisted on two others.

The final score may have been decidedly in the Black Raiders favor, yet they had trouble dispatching the Blackhawks in the opening period.

Trask gave Winslow a 1-0 lead midway through the period, but the home team could not increase it and still led by the same margin with three minutes remaining in the opening period despite holding a 13-3 advantage in shots.

“It was a terrible start. They just weren’t passing together and I think they were overskating,” Winslow coach Andy Dube said. “We just settled it down, and started to just slow it down a little bit and (tried) to control the play a little more.”

Berard ultimately gave the Black Raiders a 2-0 lead after the first, but it was not until the early part of the second that Winslow began to hit its stride.

Shortly after killing off a Blackhawk power play, Berard picked up the first of his four assists in the second when he found Trask for a score. A little over 90 seconds later it was Fowler’s turn, as Blackhawk goalie Noah Blake was drawn out of position after an initial shot to leave the Winslow junior forward wide open for the easy tip in goal.

“We were too relaxed and I think we came to the realization that, ‘OK, we’ve got to start playing a little better, start playing as a team,'” Berard said. “Things started to pick up and it looked a lot better.”

Trask then completed a stretch of three goals in three minutes when he was the beneficiary of a great centering pass from Fowler from behind the goal. Left with nearly the entire net to work with, Trask did not hesitate in burying the puck and all but sealing the Black Raiders’ win.

“We had an off period in the first, so the second and third periods we really found ourselves,” Trask said. “It was nice.”

A pair of goals from West — his first of the season — and one from Larsen rounded out the scoring in the period to make it 8-0 after the second.

Victories against teams like the winless Blackhawks are necessary, yet for Winslow — who has already established itself as one of the contenders in Eastern B — they are wins that don’t add much to the Black Raiders’ resume.

If there is one thing Winslow has not proven so far is that it can beat the teams at the top of the division, Messalonskee (5-1-0) and Brewer (5-0-1), each of whom are responsible for the Black Raiders only losses this season.

A win against either squad would certainly go a long way towards proving that, and Winslow will get its chance to do so next Saturday in a rematch against the Eagles.

While excited for the opportunity to play Messalonskee again, the Black Raiders are still taking things one game at a time. For now, the focus is on Wednesday’s 7:10 p.m. contest against Maranacook/Winthrop at Sukee.

“It’s always important to build game to game,” Trask said. “We use every game to look forward to the next game and it’s a big week ahead of us, so we need keep it up.”

Evan Crawley — 621-5640

ecrawley@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @Evan_Crawley