Game Day - Wheelers (4) d Bumpers (2)

We played the last game of the evening at Gawler against the Bumpers in a top vs bottom of table clash.  The weather was cool and raining, about twenty adults in the audience (with sundry kids floating around).  Again, a hard fought game that the scoreline belies.  Never-the-less, we won and are now clear by two games at the top of the ladder.  Go Wheelers!

First Period

The Bumpers had hit us hard in the opening minutes of our previous game this season, scoring two goals on that occasion before we'd had a shift change.  This time we were waiting for them and the first ten minutes of the game were a real arm wrestle, with both teams having shots on goal and both goalies earning their keep.

Two minutes after the start, Malcolm Bedell got caught hooking in the backcheck across the centre and we had our first powerplay of the season.  As is so often the case at this level, the penalty killing team played a highly aggressive forecheck and had more shots at goal than the powerplay team.  Matt the Goalie earned his keep again.

The game eventually settled down to a quite physical 3 on 3 tussle until I broke the deadlock with an unassisted goal at 12:30.  This one got a punch in the air from me, mainly an expression of the relief of tension that had been building to that point.  We had another shot that put the puck into the goal, but the siren had gone while the puck was on its way so it was about 0.1 seconds late (Matt the skater shot this one).  We went into half time satisfied generally with our game but knowing that there was unfinished business to sort out in the second period.

Second Period

 The second period began with the same blast as the first, lots of bodies hitting the floor and desperate stretch checks.  At one point I found myself in the offensive left corner, with Matt and two of the opposition at the crease.  Perhaps crazily, I passed it to him and skated in.  In the bundle of collapsing bodies and flying sticks that followed, Matt managed to poke the puck over the line for a millisecond before someone jammed it out - right onto my stick to which I jammed it home again above the outstretched goalies leg (raised forehand snapshot, 3' range).  Only then did the referee blow his whistle.  This would have given me the goal, which sometimes I'd not worry about but this time would have felt wrong, so I immediately pointed to Matt and told the referee when he enquired of me as he skated to the scorers.  I still got the assist.  We were up 2-0.

In the next four minutes, Brendon and Merrilyn each slammed a shot into the net from the high slot, extending our lead to 4.  This could have been 5 a few minutes later when I (again being aggressive around the crease) saw the puck entirely over the line between the goalie's skate and the post for a millisecond before it flicked back out.  I think I might have been the only one who saw it because no one else seemed to notice.  I pointed at it but continued on at full pace (no score came of the play).

The Bumpers got a good goal in with four two go, and a second in the final second.  The last one was funny as both our bench, which was closer to their shooter than his own team's, and our goalie (!) were urging him to "Shoot!" as the clock wound down.

It was all smiles and grins and handshakes during the 'good game' period that followed.

My game

My game was, overall, quite reasonable in the circumstances.  I was totally blown at the end however and I think I would have been right at my limit if the periods were twenty minutes instead of fifteen.  There is definitely room for improvement here.  Part of the problem might be that I did a triple shift at the very start, about 6 and a half minutes!  As I came off I made comment that I'd been on way too long, and did only a couple more double shifts for the rest of the game (though I did limit myself to a 20 second rest on the bench before going out again on a couple occasions late in the second half).  I was in the opening line for both periods, and not on the floor at the siren for either neither [!].  I played around twenty minutes again and enjoyed the fact that not a lot of this was spent in defence (as our 'reserve', Dylan P, tended to play D when on the floor relieved us of the task somewhat).

In the first half there were a couple hot stretch passes from Dylan that found me lurking at about 20'.  I settled and shot on the second, and never gained control of the first though I did connect for a one timer attempt.  Both of these shots went just wide of the shortside post.  A third pass found me at centre, I came down the stickside and released a wristshot at 20'.  Again, I missed, this time the stickside post.  However, the rebound off the backboard returned on my forehand pretty quick as I glided in, and I snapped the puck high into the net as an unassisted result.

 My second half was more characterised by low wristshots (none of full strength) that were on target but blocked by the Goalie, and desperate chases to the boards to gain or regain possession.  I also crossed the puck across the crease a number of times from the corner (no one was home for us, sadly).  Engaged in good ongoing contests with a couple of their younger brigade (very gutsy on the boards, strong stickcheckers, quicker skaters than me in the early minutes), and enjoyed the long battle I had with Nick - very competitive, a lot of hip and shoulder (he's bigger but I'm more lithe), stick lifting, blocking moves along the boards and so on.  Perhaps that's a corollary of our easy going out-of-game relationship?

Three times I grabbed the puck in the offensive right corner and went behind the goal, thinking of the possibility of a wrap around each time.  The third time, I could have conceivably got it (goalie was too quick the first two times) IF I'd gone heel to heel to snap a shot off a pace or so sooner.  Instead, I had to settle for the second best option and either pass it back to our D, thus allowing us to reset, or snap a pass across the crease (allowing for deflected goal if a Wheeler had been home).

A couple times I gained possession in offensive left corner and found myself wishing I'd thought to take a backhand turn rather than the more comfortably automatic outward curl towards the boards.  Will have to work on this.

It was, however, on one of these 'deep resets' that I played my role in what was probably the most entertaining play of the game for me.  I held possession on the boards for a couple seconds before passing it into Matt in the scrum at the crease.  I followed that in and there began a mad fifteen seconds (?) of falling bodies, kicking skates, blades battling over a sandwiched puck, ground level gloved hands and flailed sticks.  Somehow I kept my feet, kept my eye on the puck and my stickblade kept pulling it away from the scrum.  Behind me I could hear Brendon urging me to get it to him, me thinking 'gotta get that bloody thing first' as I fought for it.  Eventually, made enough clearance room (about a foot) to have time and space to snap it back to Brendon and spread myself wider again.  Whereupon he had a strike on goal, I got the rebound (the others in the scrum not having fully regained themselves, though still in my way) and passed it to him for another attempt.  Neither went in, but it was good hockey.

My overall stats continue to surprise me.  I was on the floor for about 20 mins, scored a goal and assisted another.  I wasn't on for any other goals, either for or against.  I don't think I won a face off outright, and only salvaged maybe 2 out of six.  I had at least six real shots at goal that didn't score, perhaps four were on target.  Was very pleased at Nick's comment afterwards that I seemed a lot faster than in past.  I was totally blown at the end.  Maybe the two are related!

GP 4 G 4 A 4 TP 8 +7 4/0/0