Dec 07, 2010 | dvannoord | 931 views
Short Bench?...No Problem!!
The Stars made the trek down the 402 to Petrolia to meet the Oilers on Sunday evening. The weather outside was frightful. Well not really. The drive was clear sailing once you got past Lambeth.
The Stars were looking to add to their shutout performance last weekend with another strong effort against the Oilers. Josh Nesbitt drew the start in goal as the Stars entered the game 4 forwards short. The short bench meant rolling 4 D...not a problem.
With a little juggling the Stars went with 2 centers and 3 sets of wingers as Cole Wilson jumped up front from his natural defence position to help out the troops in the trenches. That left the D-troops with 4 bodies for the game. Jordan Beshara,Bradley Loewen,Brennan Hennessey and Tyler Beadle all logged major minutes in this one,but kept their patience and poise while shutting down the Petrolia forces and limiting Doze's work to a mere 13 shots for the game.
Andrew Martin was johnny-on-the-spot for his 1st goal of the season as he pounded home a rebound to spot the Stars to a 1-0 lead in the 1st. Matty Roberts and Dylan Leach pitched in the helpers on Martin's goal. The Stars chances were there throughout the 1st, but the lack of finish still has a strangle hold this team. Not for lack of effort. Keep plugging and it will come.
The Stars jumped to a 2 goal lead in the second as Bradley Loewen carried the puck across the blue and fired what looked like a seeing eye shot that found the corner of the net much to the shock of the Petrolia netminder, with Josh Butler chipping in the helper. Throw everything at the net. They just might go in. Sounds like a pretty good approach if you ask the coaching staff.
With the Stars comfortably ahead 2-0 in the final frame, Bradley Loewen jumped on an errant clearing pass by an Oiler defender and promptly undressed 3 Petrolia defenders before embarrassing the Oiler netminder for a nifty highlight reel goal that would have made H-O-N honours on every sports broadcast had the cameras been rolling. Looking for a nickname for Bradley may have gotten a bit easier in the room. I'm thinking "Nifty" has a nice ring to it.
Josh Nesbitt, as was stated, wasn't very busy in the Stars goal, but he did make a few very nice stops on the night. He even added a little "not on my watch" head wag after a relaxed looking snag in the 3rd period. Doze kicked out all 13 shots fired his way to notch his 1st goose egg of the season, backing up Andrew Falk's shutout a week earlier.
A strong bench effort in this one as the Stars are finding their identity as a team that could make a run to end the season. This team has the bench to shock some teams if they all click on the same day. Great effort Stars and keep up the good work.
Final Score:
Stars 3 Oilers 0