Strathroy Blue made the trip to
Tri-Township to face the Great White Atoms in our 22nd regular season game this
season. Last year we were limited to 20 regular season games before playoffs so
we are getting a bigger bang for our buck! All we need to do now is turn these
bonus games into bonus points :-)......
We played a very solid game again! Our kids were working hard and the shifts were kept a bit shorter which helped keep the energy level optimized on the ice. We opened the scoring with 2:57 left in the first period after Spencer Emerick went end to end on a beautiful rush and blasted a hard wrist shot past the Strathroy defender. Shortly after this goal we took our first penalty. Fortunately, we succeeded in killing off the last 2 minutes of the first period short-handed.
The 2nd period was another solid performance by both teams. Ben was making some nice saves, our defense was helping to minimize the Strathroy threat by taking their chances away. One that comes to mind is the breakaway that Spencer hustled back and foiled the shot just in the nick of time. Excellent efforts like this will be the determining factor for success in our upcoming playoffs. One thing we need to do is try to minimize the penalty minutes. We killed of another Strathroy power play before the end of the 2nd.
We entered the 3rd period up with a 1-0 lead but it wasn't long before Cole Abbey got on the scoreboard after a pass from David Elijah. Congrats David for taking the 5 bucks for the nicest assist this game. We played solid but we took another penalty late in the 3rd. Fortunately we succeeded in killing off another Strathroy penalty before the game ended with a final score of 2-0 for the good guys. Congrats on the shutout Ben!
Here is a few things to work on before playoffs: reduce the penalty minutes, effective passing, getting ourselves into position to receive a pass, two hands on the stick and keep feet moving at all times. Remember, the team that works the hardest will win the battle, if you win enough battles we will win the game.
Great job everyone, enjoy the Super Bowl!
Coach Pat