Hendricken goalie Domenic Sawaia stops a shot in the first period against Delbarton of New Jersey. Click here to see a gallery of game photos.

CRANSTON — The Delbarton hockey team arrived late last night for its exhibition matchup with Hendricken, its journey from Morristown, N.J., taking five hours instead of the normal 3 ½ because of various traffic issues.

But once the game began at Veterans Rink, it was the Hawks who looked a little tired at the outset.

Delbarton displayed more zip than the Hawks, pressuring Hendricken over the first two periods in skating to a 6-2 triumph in a game between powers in their respective states.

The Green Wave, winners of four New Jersey state titles since 1989, were 5-1-1 this season entering last night’s game. Hendricken, the two-time defending champion in Rhode Island, was 5-0, with a league date against rival Mount St. Charles looming on the Hawks’ schedule tomorrow night at the Mount.

“We were a little under the gun, scrambling to get here and get dressed and get the game off,” said Delbarton coach Bruce Shatel. “Maybe that worked to our advantage. Their guys just sat around, maybe thinking too much. We got some good bounces early and fed off them.”

Andy Bell’s first goal of the game, on the power play at 7:26 of the opening period, got the Green Wave off and winging. Hendricken captain Peter Taylor tied it at 1-1, stealing an attempted clearing pass and whipping a 25-footer over the left shoulder of Delbarton goalie Michael Infante only 34 seconds later.

But it was all Green Wave after that, with Delbarton opening up a 6-1 lead on early third-period goals by Kenny Pilanski (1:04) and Alex Velischek (1:20), son of former Providence College star defenseman Randy Velischek. Bell and Kenny Agostino each had a pair of goals for Delbarton.

Taylor notched the Hawks’ other goal, at 8:46.

“We were sluggish early,” said Hendricken coach Jim Creamer. “They had the five-hour bus trip. I thought they’d be sluggish, but they outplayed us for the first 30 minutes. Clearly, they were the better team.

“Our effort was better in the final 15 minutes, but we took a couple of bad penalties and they got power play goals and out us in a hole,” he said.

Bell had the first of those power-play tallies. Agostino, a sophomore with impressive stick-handling skills, scored at 11:18 of the first period, putting Delbarton on top, 2-1. He managed to collect a loose puck just outside the crease during a scramble and flick a shot past Hendricken goalie Domenic Sawaia that barely trickled over the goal line.

The Hawks fell behind, 3-1, on Bell’s second power-play goal, at 3:45 of the second period, and the Hawks were unable to catch up.

“We came out without any emotion. We came out flat,” said Taylor, a senior from East Greenwich. “We were lazy in warm-ups and it carried over. We just couldn’t seem to get going and it cost us.”

Not that the night was a total loss for the Hawks, said Creamer and Taylor, looking forward to the first showdown of the league season with the Mounties, who extended Hendricken to three games in the title series last spring.

“It was good to play against a big, strong tem like (Delbarton),” said Taylor. “Going out of our league and playing a good team like that should get us ready for the Mount in our biggest game of the season so far.”

“Hopefully,” said Creamer, “we’ll get something out of this game, (learning) that just skill level won’t take us where we need to go. We have to have a better work ethic. The commitment to play a full game has to be there.”

skrasner@projo.com