Oct 06, 2013 | dvandenbroek | 332 views
Penalty Troubles Turns Into Loss
Coming off a game that had hardly any penalties the path to both boxes was wore out on this night. A much tighter called game was the difference in this Saturday night special.
Although there was some times throughout this game where it seemed the Stars were beginning to gel with some nifty plays the flow of the game was often dampened by several trips to the penalty box by both teams. The penalty kill unit for the Stars did a good job limiting Nats to any good chances throughout the first period in fact the first couple of power plays they didn't record a single shot. The first goal came 6 minutes into the first with the teams playing 4 on 4. A few minutes later an unlucky bounce of one our players from a clearing attempt resulted in a short handed goal to make it 2-0. A little scrum with Matt Thompson and the Nats captain resulted in a 2 minute or less power play for the home team. Josh Reda picked up a rebound and with the goalie down and out put it away to make the score 2-1 after one.
Second period was not much different with a barrage of penalties making it difficult for either team to establish any flow. The period was highlighted with Woody scoring his first of the regular season goal on a quick release after receiving a pass from Derek Folkard. With the game tied up 2-2 nearing the end of the second period I turned over my pen to a junior reporter to finish off the highlights of the game.
Looking at the notes from my daughter it seems to me that I saw the best part of the game. The referee was consistant with trail to the box and that proved to be the difference as the Nats scored 3 power play goals to put this one out of reach. A late goal by Ryan Vandebroek was added to make the final 5-3.
The St. Thomas Junior Stars Midget are making a trip down the road as they try for a victory when they face the London Junior Knights on Tuesday night at the Western Fair Complex.