KITTANNING - Plum hockey coach Stewart Rulnick will admit his team isn't a big-time scoring machine.

Try telling that to Butler.

The Mustangs scored three goals in each of the first two periods, including a hat trick by David D'Incau, to power Plum to the 6-3 victory over the Golden Tornado Wednesday.

A Butler win would have secured a spot in the PIHL Class AAA playoffs, but the Tornado lost their final five games of the regular season and six of seven to finish at 6-18.

"We're not really a goal-scoring team," said Rulnick, whose squad won the Class AAA North Division and will be among the top seeds in the playoffs.

"You look at our stats and can see that. We got a couple of good bounces tonight," Rulnick added.

"You look at them and their record's good," said Butler coach Leo Cancilla. "They're in a weak division, but they still have to play the tough teams once and they beat them.

"Everyone on their team has points. They don't allow you a lot of goals, either. They're fast. They can move and move the puck," Cancilla added.

The Mustangs (18-4-1) staked themselves to an early 3-0 lead when Michael Renna scored in front of a crowded net just 4 minutes, 15 seconds into the game.

D'Incau followed with a crossing pass from Phil Mains with 5:11 left, then added another 56 seconds later. Both of the goals were on power plays.

Butler countered with a Tory Coyle score in front of the crease with 2:38 left in the period to make it a two-goal game.

D'Incau, however, scored his third goal of the night just 3:48 into the second period to give the Mustangs a 4-1 lead.

Later in the period, the teams combined for three goals in a 1:30 span.

Plum's Ryan Griffin scored a power-play goal with 3:38 left in the second period.

Butler's Zach Carben scored off a faceoff just five seconds into a power-play opportunity with 3:03 left, but Renna answered with 2:08 remaining to give Plum a 6-2 advantage.

A bench penalty on the Mustangs at the end of the period gave the Tornado a power-play opportunity to open the third period.

Butler's Mike Guentner took advantage 40 seconds in, driving down the ice and firing a shot from 20 feet out past Mustangs goalie Brandon King to trim the deficit to 6-3.

That would be the final goal of the night.

"There's not one individual on this team," said Rulnick. "The word 'team' exemplifies this team."

"I knew if we could stay out of the neutral zone, we could be in good shape," said Cancilla. "We're good in our own zone. We scored three goals and I was looking for a 3-2 game.

"I was impressed with (Plum's) power plays. They might have copied Upper St. Clair and North Allegheny. It's the same thing."

Butler goalie Kris Rhodaberger made 22 saves while King had 19. Plum was 3-of-6 on the power play, Butler 2-of-6.

Butler started off the season at 0-10 before winning six of nine to move to 6-13 and begin its climb into the Class AAA playoff chase. But the team didn't win another game.

That was a tough task, with the Tornado's final five opponents all sporting better than .500 records.

"We had to pull out an upset to make the playoffs," said Cancilla. "As a coach, a rookie coach, I cost us a couple games and the players cost us a couple. We needed to win eight of our final 12 to get a spot."

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