Drew and his Riverview Ice Sharks returned to the ice after an
unscheduled week off following the Hurricane Ian postponement from
last week. The game got off to a bit of a slow start, as neither
team managed to get a shot on goal for the first three minutes of
the opening period. It took a George Jenkins roughing penalty for
the pace to finally pick up. Riverview fired two pucks on net during
their power play opportunity, but couldn't score on either chance.
Shortly after their power play opportunity expired, the Ice Sharks
found themselves in the box thanks to a holding call. Despite being
down a skater, they continued to attack - preventing the Eagles from
getting a single shot on goal, while managing to take four
shorthanded shots themselves. Again, neither team was able to take
advantage. Finally, with just under four minutes to play in the
period, Riverview broke through, scoring the games opening goal.
This one came on a rebound that the Ice Sharks were able to tip into
the net, giving them a 1-0 lead. Jenkins would take another roughing
penalty, this one with 48 seconds to play, but they couldn't add to
their lead before the period came to an end. The Ice Sharks would
outshoot the Eagles by a 16-3 margin, but held just a 1-0 lead. In
stark contrast to the first period, the second got off to a fast
start - Riverview would score just 13 seconds in on a shot that
trickled towards the goal and found its way under the Eagles
goaltenders pads, giving them a 2-0 lead. The George Jenkins squad
continued to find themselves on the wrong side of the whistle,
taking another roughing penalty just 30 seconds after giving up the
second Riverview goal. The Ice Sharks weren't able to add to their
lead on this power play opportunity, but they would get another
chance thanks to a hooking call with a little over nine minutes to
play. Riverview got off a nice shot that was saved by the Jenkins
goaltender, but Drew was in front setting a screen and was able to
corral the rebound, and patiently waited as the goalie continued his
slide across the crease before depositing the puck in the back of
the net for a power play goal and a 3-0 lead. Riverview would find
themselves shorthanded next, thanks to a 2+10 roughing call where
the offending player left his feet, resulting in a major penalty.
The Ice Sharks would kill that penalty as well, giving up a single
shot on goal during their time down a man. With just over 51 seconds
to go the Riverview team would add to their lead, making it a 4-0
game on a delayed penalty call thanks to another rebound that they
were able to fire into the net on a slap shot. That would be the
score at the end of period number two.
The third period saw the ice tilt towards the Eagles end, as they
finally managed to outshoot the Ice Sharks. They got the first three
shots of the period in a 44 second span, then went down a man thanks
to a slashing penalty. Riverview would manage three straight power
play shots, but couldn't score on any of them. Riverview would find
themselves down a man with just over ten minutes to go, thanks to a
hooking call on Drew. Despite giving up several shots while Drew
served his time, the Riverview goaltender stood tall, making several
key stops. Drew would find himself in the box once again just a
little over a minute after getting out of the box, this time thanks
to a slashing call. Again, the Eagles would fire the puck at the
net, but couldn't break through the Ice Sharks goaltending, and
would come up empty on the scoreboard once again. With three and a
half minutes remaining in the period Riverview would find themselves
on a breakaway, and a nice deke got the goaltender to move out of
position and resulted in a "layup" of a goal, and a 5-0 Riverview
lead, on just their fourth shot of the period. That would be it for
scoring, as the game would end with that same 5-0 score. For the
game, the Ice Sharks would hold the edge in shots on goal, by a
39-20 margin.
The victory was the Ice Sharks fifth of the season, keeping them
undefeated and in first place. Way to go Riverview! |