I couldn't play in last night's fixture due my 'Injured Recovery' status following last week's crash and trample injury so I did the next best thing and went down on the bench to support my team mates in what turned out to be a tough and close fought game against the Redwings. It was 1-1 at the end of the first period, and so it remained until the end of regular time. The shootout that followed went to four shots each, with Mike (of Noarlunga Shinny fame) putting through their game winning goal. We still took a point, however, and remain above the Redwings on the ladder.
The Knights went in with nine skaters and Matt from the Flyers in goal. The Redwings dressed eleven players plus who I think will be their regular goalie. This situation was worsened by the fact that we took a total of FIVE minor penalties in comparison to the Redwings one. All things considered, I thought that we outplayed them more than not and had more near misses than they did, two on the pipes and maybe three within a couple inches.
We scored first at about the 13 minute mark of the first period. It was a fluky goal from a shot in the corner, passing through the goalie's legs in the crease to be tipped in by Aaron. A minute and a half later the Redwings responded with an even flukier goal, a shot from beyond the blue line being deflected twice on the way to goal before hitting the inside of the upright and trickling over the line behind the stranded goalie. Shit happens.
At one point in the First we were serving two tripping penalties simultaneously, which could have been scary as it put both of our two core defenders into the box for the resultant five on three. We saw that out without score, primarily due strong forechecking (!) after clearances. High risk, but it worked. The penalties kept coming, with too many men and interference calls in the second, and a hooking in the third. Tom, our Captain, wore one in each period and now leads the league in penalties (as does our team) after two games. I thought that the last two given to Tom were pretty soft penalties, especially considering they came at the end of a play where in each instance he had been fouled himself in what seemed to me a much more obvious fashion. Despite the penalties, however, the game was pretty clean compared to last week and there didn't seem to be an obvious strategy by either team to hit the opposition.
It was an interesting experience to sit out the game on the bench. It was pretty obvious when a player overstayed his shift on the ice, poor decisions and a plummet in pace were the result. Generally, however, our two forward lines managed their time well enough and all players contributed in meaningful ways to keeping the pressure on them. We only had three on defence, so they also had to be pretty tight with their shifts. Generally we kept the newer D further back and managed to cover their attackers well, allowing only one significant breakthrough and managing to foil the rush through sheer C grade doggedness on other occasions. Our offence has a lot of sparkle, with one or two more players to rotate this will be a big thing in the later stages of games over the coming weeks I think.
The team was pretty glad that I turned up. I'm pretty glad I turned up. If I'd played this week I would have rotated on offence, I'm told. I hope I can play next week.
Injury Update: the knee was a little stiff yesterday, though lateral movement and stability is now returning. I didn't do any off ice work because it was a busy enough day in any event. Coach is going to send me details for her sports physio uncle so I can touch base with him over the coming week - I think I'd feel a bit better about playing if I've had an expert have a look at me first (he's familiar with ice hockey players and their needs due his niece's history).
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