Northampton head hockey coach Brian Ruff has been searching all season long for solutions to his team's season-long slump.

The defending Non-Pure division champions won just one of their first nine and the normal prolific scoring machine had trouble putting the puck in the net as they were the third-lowest scoring team in the Lehigh Valley Scholastic Hockey League (LVSHL).

Ruff and his staff were perplexed by his team's status and didn't have any new possible solutions on the horizon.

However, he believes the Kids' latest 4-2 victory over previously undefeated Phillipsburg might be the jumpstart to a stalled condition. In fact, the Kids had a 2-2-1 mark over their last five games beginning the week.

"We had everything finally come together," said a relieved Ruff about his team's latest victory. "They finally put together all the things we have been telling them. What happened? I don't really know.

"But everything fell into place."

Ruff thought it might finally be his team's night when the plight of defenseman Colin O'Donnell eventually worked in their favor.

"On any other night when you lose your top defenseman, you figure your team could be in a for long night," recalled Ruff. "Colin (O'Donnell) had broken a skate and it looked like he couldn't skate for the rest of the game.

"But one of my sons had his skates with him and has the same size. It looked like something finally clicked in our direction."

With a new format in the LVSHL, the top four teams in the eight-team division will make the playoffs. In the past, the LVSHL would invite the top four teams in both the Pure and Non-Pure divisions into the postseason.

But with a reduced field this winter, the Kids began the week with four games left in the shortened regular season and sat in sixth-place, four points behind fourth-seeded Freedom. Despite an apparent uphill climb, Ruff is confident his team can get back into the playoffs.

Derrick Wruble has been the team's leading scorer with 10 goals and six assists for 16 points, and Matthew Emerick had nine goals and six assists for 15 points. Chris Tanczos has been the mainstay in the nets through all 10 games with a 5.64 GAA and a .793 save percentage.

"We definitely need to win three of our last four and it would help to win them all," he stressed. "We would also need some help along the way. I definitely feel we can do it and keep it rolling.

"The kids haven't lost confidence or focus along the way. We just had trouble putting a complete game together for whatever reason. Hopefully, we can get it done and it isn't too late."