Feb 26, 2013 | pstarling | 749 views
And so the Playoffs start
The format of the playoffs was changed up at the last minute, and instead of it just being a 3 team round robin to see which two would play for the trophy, it ended up being a 4 team round robin to see which two teams would play for the trophy. We now have a round robin with Lindsay Black, Sturgeon and Manvers, starting with our first game tonight against Manvers, who already lost their first game to Sturgeon.
With Manvers already down one game in the round robin, this was expected to be a fairly tight game tonight as these two teams have battled hard with each other in every game they have played this season. the first period period was pretty quite, with neither team taking a penalty. There was no score until 1 1/2 minutes left in the period When Mike C popped in the first goal.
The second period saw a few penalties on both sides, with the worst being a major boarding call on one of the Manvers players after he slammed Kole hard into the boards causing a slight neck injury that would see him sit out the rest of the period. Before that penalty occurred however, Dan had managed to dippy doodle his way through their players to the net and slip a puck over the goalies shoulder to make the score 2-0 for the home side. With 1:18 left in the frame, and still working with a man advantage on the major penalty, Mike C was handed another puck that he worked his magic with to create a 3 goal lead. The 3rd period was full of all kinds of excitement, but not in the scoring column. with 5 minutes remaining in the game, one of the Manvers players got a 4 minute head contact penalty and was sent to the sin bin. While he was in the box, at one of the stoppages in play, two other Manvers players started to get into a bit of a shoving match on the ice. While the refs were dealing with that and figuring it out, the player that was in the box decided to leave and head to the dressing room. After a couple more minutes of trying to sort things out, Manvers ended up putting another player in the penalty box instead and play continued until one of the Lindsay players was called for a major head contact. In my opinion not the right call, but I don't wear the stripes in the game. No question the Manvers player got injured because the two helmets collided on impact of the shoulders, and I do hope he is alright from it, but none the less I don't believe it deserves a 3 game suspension. After a further minor penalty to Lindsay, the game ended with Lindsay holding off a 5 on 3 attack to win the game 3-0 and put Manvers' back against the wall in this short round robin series where every W is so important.
Next game will be Friday night in Fenelon Falls against Sturgeon Thunder. GO MUSKIES GO!