We had a great game this past Saturday, but may have lost because we met up with a team that was looking for their 6th in a row.
One observation after watching this great matchup between Blue & Red is that Blue has an abundance of speed and fire-power. Plenty of quick and nimble Blue players were able to accept a pass, rush through the neutral zone and take a clean shot on Venning. Even with stellar goaltending, he cannot hold off the high number of shots. All three Blue goals started deep in their end and were unassisted. Blue clearly had a lot of energy and enthusiasm in this game. They wanted their 6th win and did what they need to do to achieve that goal. We need to match that level of energy throughout the season!
If we stick to a game plan of passing, on-ice communication and aggressive, energetic play, we can do well against any team like this. One player that exhibited this during the entire game was #7 LaCoste, who earned the Player of the Game. Not only did he score his first goal of the season, he stopped a breakaway in its tracks and had some nice passes to his buddies. Way to go Nick!
Game recap:
1st Period
Blue goal #1- Yee shoots close to Blue net, goes behind; Blue #12 grabs it and skates unassisted all the way to score glove side.
Red goal #1 - Lacoste scores his first of the season (unassisted). He manhandles a puck away from a Blue player in the neutral zone and passes it back towards the Blue end. He retrieves his own pass and sneaks a low blocker side past Blue goalie Jürdens.
Blue Goal #2 – seconds later, Blue #6 scores a low blocker side against Venning, driving the puck all the way from their end (similar to 1st goal)
Red Goal #2 – still in the first period, Tommy “the Tsunami” takes a pass from Thornton, dekes out a Blue defenseman and scores on Blue goalie Jürdens.
2nd Period
No scoring
Martin gets 2:00 for body contact, stopping a rush towards Venning.
3rd Period
Yee gets 2:00 for hooking, while trying to prevent Blue from taking the puck out of their end.
Winning Blue goal #3 - Blue #14 scores the game winner half-way through the third. This was also a long-distance play, scoring mid-net glove side.