Muskies Take 1-0 Series Lead, News, Bantam BB, U15, 2012-2013 (Lindsay Minor Hockey)

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Jan 14, 2013 | cshanks | 646 views
Muskies Take 1-0 Series Lead
The Lindsay Bantam BB Muskies took a 1-0 Series lead over the Port Hope Predators with a dominating performance in Game 1 of the preliminary OMHA playdowns. The team controlled the play throughout the game and had a solid effort in all aspects of the game while outshooting Port Hope 49-10 in the 6-2 win.

The Muskies started strong and had a good scoring chance by Cameron Robinson in the first 15 seconds only to see a bad bounce go against them later in the shift with Port Hope taking a 1-0 lead as a rebound bounced off a defenseman and past Tanner King. The team didn't let this get them down however and showed good resiliency in shaking off a tough start with continued pressure throughout the first period. However the Port Hope goalie, who kept them in the game with stellar stops throughout the game, made several big saves to keep Lindsay down by 1 until about 5 minutes to go in the period. While on the powerplay Dawson Bruce tied the game at 1-1 with assists going to Drake McQuarrie and Matt Cooke. The team kept applying pressure throughout the 1st period and had a 13-3 shots on net advantage at the end of 1 period but the score remained tied at 1-1.

The 2nd period started off much like the 1st with Port Hope scoring an early goal on a blown defensive assignment to take a 2-1 lead. This seemed to cause some frustration with the Muskies as they started a parade of 3 straight trips to the penalty box. However strong penalty killing by Garrett Fierheller, Jaryd Lapointe, Hunter Reedman and Curtis Appleton allowed the Muskies to keep the deficit at one and while killing the final penalty Riley MacIver was able to tie the score at 2-2 with a shorthanded goal with assists going to Caileb Duffy and Cameron Robinson. This seemed to spark the team as they completely dominated the middle period from this point on and without the strong goaltending from Port Hope the game would have been broken open as breakaways by Cameron Robinson, Caileb Duffy and Matt Cooke were all turned aside and a post being hit by Riley MacIver and a crossbar by Matt Cooke kept the game tied. Then strong forechecking and puck cycling by the lines of Caileb Duffy, Liam Shanks and Cameron Robinson and Dryden Brown, Drake McQuarrie and Cody Defreitas saw the Muskies take complete control with Caileb Duffy scoring the game winning goal with assists to Cameron Robinson and Liam Shanks at the 4 minute mark. Later in the same shift the same line kept up the attack and Robinson (with assists to Duffy and Shanks) was able to score to give the Muskies a 4-2 lead at the end of 2. This period of hockey was the best the team has played all season as they outshot the Predators 22-3 to take a shots on net advantage of 35-6 into the 3rd period.

The 3rd period again saw good forechecking by all 3 forward lines and strong lead passes from defensemen Garrett Fierheller and Riley MacIver to create excellent scoring chances. However the Port Hope goalie kept shutting the door to keep the lead at 2 goals until late in the 3rd period when the line of Duffy, Shanks and Robinson was able to score again (Duffy with his 2nd from Shanks and Robinson) to create some breathing room. Zack Rhodes finished off the scoring, with an assist to Riley MacIver, to make the final score 6-2. The Muskies outshot the Predators by a margin of 14-4 in the 3rd period.

While not very busy throughout the game Tanner King made several key saves when the score was still close to keep the momentum going. Three stars of the game were the line of Caileb Duffy (2 goals and 2 assists), Cameron Robinson (1 goal and 3 assists) and Liam Shanks (3 assists) in a game in which Port Hope just could not match up with them. The team hopes to keep this effort up, while being a bit more disciplined in its own end and in staying out of the box, in Game 2 in Lindsay on Saturday January 19th at 3 pm.
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