Detroit Falcons vs   Anchorage Armada

Game Link

Period 1:
This matchup started off relatively quiet. No real action for the first 16 minutes of the game aside from some minor penalties that were all killed off. Just as Anchorage finished killing off Kalevi Karhunen’s hooking penalty Joe Kerr finds a pass from Johnny Sins and blasts it into the back of the net past Emiko Spector for his first of the season, giving Anchorage the lead. Just as we’re about to head back to the locker rooms for a break Espen Knutsen Jr wins a faceoff in the defensive zone and passes it over to Austin Roenick, who carries it all the way to the other end of the ice and manages to beat rookie goaltender Ian Venables. He gives up a goal after facing only 5 shots this period and we head to an intermission all tied up despite Anchorage leading shots 13 to 5.

Period 2:
Getting right back into the action here, Anchorage’s goal scorer Joe Kerr takes a hooking penalty a minute into this period. On the powerplay Detroit’s Jagger Fouquette finds the back of the net assisted by Raino Kyllonen and Travis Bitties. Joe Kerr givith, and Joe Kerr taketh away, it would seem. Two minutes into the second and Detroit now have the lead! Fast forward 5 more minutes and Austin Roenick finds his mark once more and scores his second goal of the night, assisted once more by Espen Knutsen Jr as well as Savoli Tankovic. Anchorage, sensing that they were in trouble now, decide to swap out goaltenders. Ian Venables gets called to the bench and Colt Beckett is in between the pipes now. Venables stopped 10 of 13 shots. The swap seemed to be effective for Anchorage, as no more goals were given up for the rest of the period and we finish this one up with Anchorage killing off Augustus Wang’s high sticking minor before heading to another break. Detroit’s lead in this period can certainly be ascribed to their increased shot volume on the rookie goaltender.

Period 3:
Anchorage start off the final period shorthanded for 11 seconds, rolling over from the previous period. All in all the remainder of this game is relatively quiet. Two penalties taken by Detroit and one by Anchorage, all killed off. Just as we’re about to close this game out Detroit find one last offensive rush. Espen Knutsen Jr finds the back of the net for his third of the season and his third point of the night, beating Cole Beckett on the last shot he would face tonight. The remaining 40 seconds tick down and the game ends.

Final Score
4 - 1 

Three Stars:
1 - Espen Knutsen Jr. (DET) (1G-2A-3P)
2 - Austin Roenick (DET) (2G-0A-2P)
3 - Emiko Spector (DET) (1.00 GAA, 0.968 SV%, 30 Saves)

Detroit win 4 goals to 1 despite being outshot 31 to 28. Detroit’s penalty kill came up big tonight, stopping all 5 of the power play chances Anchorage had. The big difference maker tonight looks like special teams to me. Anchorage calling in the backup seemed to help somewhat as Beckett stopped 14 of 15 shots he faced, however the damage had already been done and Anchorage was simply unable to beat Emiko Spector.

Thanks y’all for reading, hope you enjoyed my first PGS!