Game Day - Shufflers (4) d Wheelers (3)

We went down in a hard fought game against the Shufflers in the last game of the night at Gawler.  Although we had our full roster (5 skaters and Matt the Goalie) Brenton had played in the preceding Div II contest between the Rockers and Bumpers as a reserve,so we were probably half a skater down.  Never the less, the rest of us were rested and experienced enough to cope.  Despite the loss, we remain on top of the ladder at this midpoint of the season with 9 points.  Shufflers are second with 8 points.  Rockers are third with 7 points.

First Period

Opening shift for me was about six minutes long, which is too long but I was able to cope with it on this occasion as during the early stages of the game I was using my head at least as much as my skates to make the most of my opportunities.  I scored the first goal after Alex chased down his own rebound and passed it back to me in the slot.  He scored the second after a bit of maneuvering around in the slot after I'd passed it to him from centre (no assist for me, however).

The Shufflers two stars (Alen and Mark) combined to score one back within the minute of our second, and then Mark put in their second about five minutes later with a powerful wrist shot from their right point.  I managed a couple more rush shots, neither of which went in, although one nearly slid beneath their late dropping goalie.  At least I wasn't missing the goal mouth!

We went into half time at 2-2 and had a bit of discussion on our bench about the fact that we should be clearing their screening forward away from our goalie's crease (the Shufflers were leaving one of their skaters right up against our goalmouth much of the time, not that I think that it was a cause of any scoring despite its  distractive value).  I argued that that meant that they were a skater down elsewhere on the floor and this was a weakness in their plans.  I did agree, however, that we would need to make the most of this advantage if we were to warrant not sending our defence back to keep the goal mouth clear.  Which would mean we should be talking more, which we hadn't been.  Which was a valid point.  And then it was back onto the floor.

Second Period

We got the first goal of the second period about five minutes in, with Alex passing to Matt to drop it in.  I could feel our confidence rising.It was only a minute or so later however, and they answered with first one, and then a few minutes later a second to take the lead.  it could have been worse, as just before that the puck had bounced down from crossbar to land outside the line, and another shot had traveled along the line within the goal mouth for at least a couple feet before being steered out by someone (me?).

Maybe foolishly, I came off shortly after their fourth goal, perhaps assuming that we could split the remaining four minutes between us to keep a head of steam going (we were out skating them, although not out shooting).  I was disappointed that at least one of our skaters stayed on the floor long after he'd lost all his concentration and ability to accelerate and chase down loose pucks (and hence, kept turning over possession straight after we had fended off yet another attack) until there was only a minute to go.

The final minute was pretty dramatic.  We were under assault, Matt and I coming off the bench on a defensive zone face off.  I didn't feel uncomfortable, however, as we were both skating strong and we had the skills.  Sadly, a bad bounce in the faceoff and I was in a mad race to the backboard with Nicoletta, followed by a mad crash as we both hit the floor very hard to keep up the fight (we do this every game, and love it).  I was up on my feet quickly to see that in front of me there was a scrum in the crease, with Matt the Goalie out to the side by a couple feet.  Unusually for me, I skated between him and the goalmouth, aiming to cover the wide open side.  Lucky I did, because a hard shot came in and I only just managed to get my boot in the way and save the goal.  This was the second goal I saved in the evening, having earlier jammed the puck into our blind goalie's pad until he could get a glove onto it to protect it against the questing stick of the aggressive forward.

When the siren went it was 3-2, and smiles all round.  Several spectators commented to me in the aftermath about how competitive the whole game had been.  I couldn't argue with that.

My Game

My game was quite reasonable.  Probably 20 minutes on the floor, one goal, set up another (though no points for this), directly saved two goals, was on the floor for one of theirs.  I wasn't aware of a screening forward in front of our goalie when I was present.  I played more in the neutral zone in a 'striker' role, dropping back for loose pucks or to help the goalie when necessary.  I provided a reset option several times, and didn't once miss receiving the puck.  Most risky thing I think I did was pass the puck back to Matt the Goalie on one occasion so he could effectively commence the breakout.  I don't think I missed the goal with any of my four shots.

I had several of my own breakout passes intercepted by the opposition because I passed it too close to them and too soft.  I will have to pick my passing options better in future.

GP6 G5 A5 PT10 +8 4/1/1