Game #21

Period Length

Things didn't start out strong for the Ice Sharks, as they found themselves shorthanded just thirteen seconds in, thanks to a suspect interference call. Though it took nearly the full two minutes, the penalty wound up costing them, as the Gators would go on to knock in a rebound just before the two minutes expired. The Gators continued to dominate the puck after scoring the opening goal, and would go on to score their second goal of the period by walking straight through the Ice Sharks defense to make it a 2-0 game with just under seven minutes remaining. It wasn't until after the second goal that the Ice Sharks managed to get their first shot on goal, thanks to a laser from Drew. Unfortunately he wasn't able to score, so the deficit remained two. Finally, with less than 30 seconds remaining the Riverview team finally managed to knock one home, narrowing the deficit to 2-1 heading into the first intermission, despite being outshot 13-4.

Things began to turn a bit in the second period, as the Ice Sharks finally began to generate some offense. Despite outshooting the Gators 5-2 up to this point, it was the Gators who got on the board first this period, with their goal coming on a delayed penalty call with just under three and a half minutes remaining. The delayed penalty call? It led to a couple of fights after the goal, with each team getting a player ejected. Unfortunately for the Ice Sharks, their ejected player was their goaltender. That led to them having to insert their backup for the remainder of the game. Thankfully they were able to regain their earlier momentum on offense, thanks to a 5 vs. 3 powerplay after a Land O' Lakes tripping penalty. With just under a minute remaining, the Ice Sharks jumped on a Gators goalie mistake and tapped the puck into the net after he misplayed it. That closed the deficit back down to a single goal heading into the final intermission, this time with a 3-2 score.

With their backup goaltender in net, the Riverview squad gave up a quick goal to open the third, not even a minute in, when a Gators skater fired the puck on net from the left circle and the Ice Sharks goaltender barely reacted. That gave the Gators their two goal lead back, this time by a 4-2 margin. To make things worse, the Sharks took another interference penalty not even a minute later. Thankfully they were able to control the puck the entire time, giving up zero shots while shorthanded. In fact, they managed to score while being a man down, knocking in a rebound to make it a 4-3 game with nine and a half minutes to play. Land O' Lakes wound up taking an interference penalty of his own with just under nine minutes to go, and the Ice Sharks managed to take advantage of having an extra skater on the ice, scoring a power play goal that went five-hole with seven and a half minutes remaining. The power play goal knotted the game up at 4 goals apiece, making for an exciting ending to come. Each team would end up getting called for tripping penalties in the final five minutes. Riverview was able to kill theirs off, despite giving up four shots on net. Land O' Lakes wasn't quite as lucky. With less than 20 seconds remaining on the penalty, the Ice Sharks were able to snipe one home, thanks to a wrist shot from out front between the circles, giving the Ice Sharks their first lead of the game with only forty seconds remaining. That would be it for the scoring, with the Riverview team coming out on top of an exciting contest by a 5-4 score. Way to go Sharks!