Game #16

Period Length

The Ice Sharks got the better start today, as they took the lead just under a minute in, thanks to a steal and a wrist shot. The Ice Sharks would widen their lead two minutes later, thanks to their quickness to the loose rebound that they were able to tap into the Freedom goal for a 2-0 lead. The Ice Sharks would widen their lead to 3-0 with eight and a half to play on a hard drive through the crease before getting the puck up and over the Patriots goaltender. The three goal lead for Riverview was short-lived, however, as Freedom made their own drive to the net just ten seconds later. That drive down the right side of the ice resulted in a goal that narrowed the lead to 3-1. Two minutes later the Patriots were able to pounce on a rebound, driving it home to make it a 3-2 game. With just under five minutes to play the Patriots jumped on another rebound to even the score at 3 goals apiece. Thankfully that the end of the Freedom scoring streak, and that would also be the score when the period came to a close, despite the two teams combing for 34 shots on goal.

Although it took a little over four minutes before the tie was broken in the second period, the good news was that it was the Ice Sharks who got the goal. A nice pass to the front of the net led to a tip in goal that went up and over the Patriots goaltender for a 4-3 game. With just over nine minutes remaining Riverview was called for a hooking penalty, and it took just over a minute for the Freedom team to take advantage of the extra skater, scoring on a rebound with a little under eight minutes to play to make it a 4-4 game. With a little over four minutes remaining in the period the Patriots grabbed their first lead of the game, and unfortunately I missed the shot. Regardless, it was now a 5-4 game, with the Ice Sharks on the wrong end of the score. That 5-4 score would hold until the final intermission, despite a couple of late penalties from each team.

The third period turned out to be a wild one, with the Ice Sharks evening things up once again just twenty-three seconds in on a wrist shot. They would retake the lead once more just a little over a minute later be grabbing a rebound and shooting the puck over the Freedom goaltender. Things took a quick swing in the other direction after that goal, however, as the Patriots score their first goal of the period just two minutes in as the Riverview defender fell down, allowing the Patriots attacker to fire the puck over the goaltender to make it a 6-6 game. With a bit under 11 minutes to play the Patriots would retake the lead by pouncing on another rebound. Not even fifteen seconds later they took a two goal lead after tipping a pass to the front of the net, making it an 8-6 game. Ten seconds later, the Riverview squad got back on the scoreboard, narrowing the gap to 8-7. Unfortunately I was busy trying to catch up on the action on my scoresheet that I missed the goal. The same thing happened twenty seconds later, when the Ice Sharks tied things up at 8-8 with just under ten minutes to play! There was time to breath between that goal and the next one to be scored, and thankfully for the Ice Sharks they were on the scoring end once again. With just under six minutes to play, and a Freedom player in the penalty box for elbowing, the Ice Sharks managed to fire home a wrist shot on the power play to make it a 9-8 game. Over the course of the final (almost) eight minutes Freedom would be called for two penalties, both of which resulted in misconduct calls as well - one for checking from behind, one for head contact. Unfortunately Riverview was unable to score with the extra man, but the Patriots were unable to mount much of a sustained attack either, allowing the Ice Sharks to hang on for the 9-8 victory!