Jan 04, 2013 | cshanks | 336 views
Positive Start to the New Year
The Lindsay Bantam Muskies started off 2013 on a positive note with a 1-1 tie against Whitby White. This was a full team effort with good team play and hustle by all 14 skaters and the goalie. The coaching staff was very encouraged by this as we get ready for playdowns after dropping 3 consecutive games prior to the Christmas break, 4-2 to Uxbridge, 1-0 to Peterborough and 3-0 to Ajax.
Tanner King had a strong game in goal to backstop the team to the tie against Whitby White. In the first period the Muskies took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Liam Shanks with assists to Caileb Duffy and Cameron Robinson. The team pressed hard to try to get up by 2 and had a few powerplays but couldn't score that 2nd goal. This period was the best period of hockey the team has played in over a month.
In the 2nd period the Muskies ran into serious penalty trouble by taking 7 minor penalties and having to play over 12 minutes of the period shorthanded. At one point 4 players were in the box at the same time. The team did a great job of killing the penalties with great work led by the defensive pairings of Garrett Fierheller and Hunter Reedman and the forward pairings of Liam Shanks and Cameron Robinson, Cody Defreitas and Dryden Brown and Dawson Bruce and Drake McQuarrie. Unfortunately Whitby was able to tie the game at 1 on the PP with 3 seconds to go in the final penalty.
The 3rd period saw the team get back to a disciplined game without the penalty problems. The Muskies pushed hard for the winner with good chances by Zack Rhodes and Matt Cooke and a few strong rushes by defenseman Riley MacIver. However the team was unable to score the winner and settled for the 1-1 tie. Whitby had good puck control late in the game but good defensive play by Jaryd Lapointe and Curtis Appleton kept the game tied.
The team hopes to use this strong team effort as a springboard to the playdowns which start in mid-January where we will have to face Port Hope, Stirling and PEC to advance out of our area.