MIDDLETON – Slated with two games against Catholic Conference powers after losing the season-opener to Andover, there was a real chance the Hingham boys hockey team could have started the year at 0-3 – especially while missing star forward Travis Rugg due to injury.

Not once did the thought come up, though, and that confidence showed plenty Saturday as the No. 7 Harbormen (1-1) edged out a 3-2 win over No. 5 St. John’s Prep (0-1) at Essex Sports Center.

Paul Dzavik scored the first of his two goals within the first 27 seconds, setting the tone early for a two-goal lead by the end of the first period. The Eagles twice cut their deficit as they carried play in long stretches, but the Hingham defense blocked a barrage of shots and sophomore goalie Mike Karo (33 saves) showed great vision on what got through.

“We capitalized on every opportunity we got,” said Hingham head coach Tony Messina. “We played with a bunch of energy and that helped us. … We had so many kids tonight that kind of (showed) extra effort – blocking shots, taking the body. It’s great to be like that.”

“I don’t think our confidence (from Andover) fluttered at all,” Dzavik added. “I don’t think the thought of 0-3 ever crossed our minds. Even without that, winning this game was huge.”

Waiting out almost an hour-long delay to start the game didn’t help with nerves for St. John’s Prep in its season opener, and Hingham took advantage of it right away. Dzavik scooped a costly turnover in the Eagles’ zone and fired it over AJ Farese’s (14 saves) glove for a 1-0 lead just 27 seconds in.

St. John’s Prep came out firing in response, like it went on to do the rest of the way in an eventual 35-17 shot advantage. But Karo was phenomenal with 14 saves in a shutout first period, and sophomore Conal Mulkerrin needed just 18 seconds of a power play to deliver a 2-0 lead with four minutes left in the frame.

“We knew we had to come out fast because (St. John’s Prep is) a great team, they’re fast, physical and very skilled,” Dzavik said. “We knew the first shift was going to be huge.”

St. John’s Prep finally got on the board near the end of the second period, with Jake Vana burying Christian Rosa’s face-off win for a 2-1 deficit.

But the Harbormen didn’t take long to get that goal back in the third period on a Dzavik breakaway, finding the five-hole with 13:41 to go.

“I kept telling them (that) they can have possession in the offensive zone as long as we keep them on the perimeter,” Messina said. “We were doing a lot of that. The goalie played great. Not a lot of rebounds, everything stuck to him. Just the right formula … you have to be almost perfect to beat these guys.”

St. John’s Prep pulled Farese with under two minutes to play, and Vana scored his second goal to put the comeback in reach. The Eagles sent several pucks through dangerous space in front from there, but Karo stopped the best bid with 28 seconds left.

“It feels awesome,” Karo said of his first win. “It’s just something special, something that I’ll always really look up to. … (The Andover loss) was motivating, of course. I wanted to really show people who I really was, and I felt like I did that today pretty well.”

St. John Prep’s Jake Vana, right, deflects the puck onto Hingham goalie Mike Karo during the first period at Essex Sports Complex in Middleton. (Photo by Paul Connors/Media News Group/Boston Herald)