Mar 10, 2018 | GeoffRead | 602 views
KnightHawks Dig Deep, Gut Out 2-1 Win
The KnightHawks continued their march through the playoffs this afternoon, facing off against Oakridge #13 at Kinsmen Arena, a team they had beaten 1-0 in their previous meeting. Sure enough, it was another tight game in this one but the KnightHawks found a way to win, playing with grit and gutting out a 2-1 victory.
The game was tight from the first shift with both teams pressing hard for turnovers and working to block routes to their nets. Indeed, the entire first period featured, by this reporter's count, one shot on net for the KnightHawks and two for the Aeros.
But just two minutes in to the second period, with the KnightHawks generating more chances through offensive zone pressure, defenceman Aiden Hayes threaded the needle, so to speak, and scored through traffic after taking a pass from Kaelan Walsh. Walsh and wingers Connor Devlin and Troy Price had a great game, consistently hemming the Aeros in their end, and were rewarded for it on this play.
The KnightHawks, unfortunately, then let the Aeros back in the game on the very next shift, when the line of Jack Peterkin between Sam Shafer and Zoe Read, which worked hard otherwise the rest of the game, let an Oakridge player dance through the neutral zone without so match as anyone waving a stick at him. The sniper then had plenty of speed to go wide on the KnightHawks' defence and put an excellent shot on net. Netminder Kayden Keating did a nice job to get a piece of the shot and make the stop, but a plump juicy rebound dropped right in the low slot area where an Oakridge forward pounded it in to the back of the net.
Thereafter, the KnightHawks' defence - down to just three players, Hayes, Brandon Miles, and Anderson Watt - played an outstanding game and kept the Aeros' snipers in check. All three defenders cut off repeated Oakridge breaks and headmanned the puck out of their zone with tape to tape passes to the KnightHawks wingers.
Hayes then scored on a similar goal to his first to put the KnightHawks up by one without about 10 minutes to go in the third. The game was tense after that right until the end when the Aeros pulled their goalie to try to even it up, but the KnightHawks blocked the lanes and hustled to keep the puck on the periphery and when called upon, Keating produced the big saves his team needed.
The other notable feature of the game was its chippiness. It started with a few trips and hooks from the Aeros on KnightHawks puck carriers, but escalated continually throughout the game, and was going both ways. The referees, frankly, didn't do their jobs in this one, and with two more naturally rough teams, things might have gotten truly out of hand. Somehow, in what was a rough and at times dirty game, the only penalty of the afternoon went to Miles for a bodycheck in what seemed like a borderline call. The referees also missed several offside and icing calls. Yes, the referees are young and learning on the job, but it was a bit frustrating for fans and coaches alike, no matter the team they were rooting for.
The KnightHawks definitely missed some of their absent players in this one, perhaps most notably Greg the Impaler. In such a chippy affair, his menacing presence might have had a calming influence. He will be relieved to read, however, that Connor the Scottish Devil Devlin didn't catch him in the team race for the pugilism crown, adding no penalty minutes to his total.
It was, on the whole, a gutsy team win, with Hayes taking home player of the game honours for his two goals and steady play on the back end.
Go KnightHawks go!