Penalties Help Moose Get Retribution Against Bears
When the coaching staff opted to play tonight’s game against the Manitoba Moose with seven defensemen and eleven forwards, I don’t think they realized what a good decision that was.
Through two periods, the Bears were not able to get any kind of offensive momentum going. This was mostly a result of the ten power plays awarded to Manitoba. Some of them were obvious ones like delay of game and playing with a broken stick. Others, like a tripping call against Francois Bouchard, were questionable.
Nonetheless, the Bears penalty kill unit deserves a lot of credit tonight. Even though the Moose scored three power play goals (including the game winner), the Bears special teams held the Moose off during the nine other power plays. Still missing Andrew Joudrey and Boyd Kane, the Bears tempted fate with so many penalties. The players were getting frustrated but, for the most part, they were able to hold back and not take dumb penalties due to anger.
Dmitri Kugryshev kicked off the scoring with an unassisted beauty. It’s awesome to see Kugryshev coming into his own because he’s going to be a dangerous offensive player soon. During the second period, Lawrence Nycholat salvaged any chance Hershey had at winning this game with a shot that beat the Manitoba goaltender’s five hole.
As if you needed any more evidence of what a clutch player Steve Pinizzotto is, he scored the game-tying goal during the third period. He was in the perfect spot for a rebound shot and made sure he didn’t miss on the second try. Thanks to him, Hershey got a point out of this and the game went to overtime.
The game ended in the most fitting way possible. Sean Collins was whistled for a tripping call with 40.5 seconds left in overtime. The Moose didn’t hesitate. They scored on the power play and sent Hershey packing. Moose win 4-3.
Tonight’s Notes:
- Unfortunately, Braden Holtby‘s shutout streak came to an end tonight. It lasted 182 minutes and 63 seconds.
- As I touched on above, the Bears took Joel Rechlicz off the game roster and replaced him with Johann Kroll, resulting in line-up of seven defensemen and eleven forwards.
- For comparison’s sake, the Bears only had three power plays, two of which were not full two minutes power plays. They did not score on any of them.
- Right before Nycholat’s goal, the bears had a goal by Keith Aucoin waved off after it was determined to hit the post and not fully enter the net. Rough luck.
Lines and Pairings:
Gordon – Aucoin – Bouchard
Greentree – Willsie – Pinizzotto
Lacroix – Rome – Kugryshev
Kashirsky – Bruess
P. McNeill – Fahey
Nycholat – Miskovic
Collins – Wellar
Kroll
Actual three stars of the game:
1. Marco Rosa (MTB)
2. Steve Pinizzotto (HER)
3. Shawn Weller (MTB)
Sweetest Hockey On Earth’s three stars of the game:
1. Pinizzotto: game-tying goal and assist
2. Kugryshev: first goal, led the team in shots on goal
3. Nycholat: goal