| Tonight's game was an interesting one, as each period was very
different from the others. The refereeing was very tight in the
opening period, as there was a total of 6 penalties called for a
total of twelve penalty minutes - equal to the length of the period
itself! The second of the penalties called on the Ice Sharks came
back to bite them, as it resulted in a power play goal on the Wolves
first shot of the game. Newsome got called for their second penalty
of the game shortly after their goal, and this time it was the Ice
Sharks who were able to take advantage, as a slick move on a
breakaway led to the undressing of the goaltender and an easy goal
to tie things at 1-1. Each team took their third penalties after
that goal, but neither was able to take advantage of their
opportunities. It wasn't until there was just under two minutes
remaining that Riverview broke through to grab their first lead of
the game, scoring on what would be their last shot of the period to
make it a 2-1 game. Unfortunately, the Wolves kept attacking and
found the back of the net on a long shot from the top of the circles
with just under a second on the clock to make it a 2-2 game heading
into the first intermission. Unlike the first period, the second
was a totally different story. There were a grand total of zero
penalties called over the course of the middle twelve minutes,
allowing the game to have a much better flow to it. Unfortunately
for the Ice Sharks, it was the Wolves that started out the period
hot, getting the first three shots on goal before Riverview even
attempted their first. Their fourth shot of the period came at the
nine minute mark and resulted in a goal that gave them the lead for
the first time since early in the first period. It took just under
three minutes for the Ice Sharks to answer back, on another nifty
move that deked the goaltender out of position before the Sharks
skater backhanded one in over his pads. That tied the game at 3
goals apiece. Barely 20 seconds later the Ice Sharks scored again,
driving hard to the net before tipping in the rebound to grab the
lead once again, this time at 4-3. Unfortunately, that lead lasted
just barely 90 seconds, as the Wolves knotted the score at 4-4. That
score would hold until the final intermission.
It was Riverview that was quickest to the puck to open the third
period, as they gained control and fired a wrist-shot from the top
of the circle 21 seconds into the period that gave them a 5-4 lead.
Not even two minutes later another hard shot resulted in a juicy
rebound that the Ice Sharks were able to control and drive into the
back of the net, widening their lead to 6-4 with just under ten
minutes remaining. With a little over four minutes remaining in the
contest one of the Ice Sharks skaters drove hard to the net and
powered in a goal that gave them their first three goal lead of the
game (and the season!). Though that was the end of the scoring, it
wasn't the end of the fireworks. One of the Ice Sharks skaters took
some hard "body contact" from a Wolves player that wound up ending
the Riverview players night. In a non-checking league this was
definitely a no-no hit, but the ref didn't deem it a check, but
rather just standard body contact. The Riverview coach obviously
took objection to this call, to the point that he wound up with an
unsportsmanlike conduct call. Even the official scorer tried
explaining to the ref this was a non-checking league, to no avail.
Moments after that penalty was called, the Ice Sharks were called
for a tripping penalty. That gave the Wolves a two-man advantage,
which they added to by pulling their goalie. They were unable to
convert on their 6v3 advantage thanks to some quality penalty
killing, as the Ice Sharks held on for their third victory of the
season. Way to go Riverview! |
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