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jtwilson1214 · 08-18-2019, 04:45 PM

Lethbridge Lions vs. Vancouver Whalers Whalers

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Can Lethbridge right the ship after early-season struggles, or will Vancouver redeem their opening night loss to Lethbridge and continue their strong opening to this years campaign? Minding the Lions net will be rookie goaltender Nolan McMahon, while between the pipes for Vancouver will be Kasperi Braulin.

First Period: The contest started off with a strong surge by Vancouver, as they hemmed the Lions into their own zone, forcing goaltender Nolan McMahon to stand tall, he stopped 4 back to back Vancouver shots early to keep the game knotted at 0 apiece. About 5 minutes into the game Lions forward Liam Hutchinson took a cross-checking minor which gave the Vancouver powerplay and early opportunity to strike. The Lions penalty kill, however, was up to the task. Each team would take another penalty during the first period including Liam Hutchinson taking another trip to the box for slashing at 11:38. However the forward would redeem himself later in the period after a scramble in front of the Whalers net, the puck found Hutchinson and he buried it for his first of the season (1-0 Lethbridge). A little less than a minute later Lions top-line right wing Boruvka Banananak was knocked off the puck by Jean-Paul Boivin. But showing no quit Banananak took a feed from Hugh Jazz and rifled a shot past Braulin to put the Lions up by 2 (2-0 Lethbridge). Despite getting outplayed and outshot 6-11 the Lions emerge from the period up 2-0.

Second Period: The second period was relatively low event compared to the first. The Whalers continued to outplay the Lions but a lack of finish and disciplinary problems plagued the Whalers as they took 3 penalties in the period compared to the Lions 1. The combination of a dismal powerplay performance by Lethbridge and strong penalty killing by Vancouver helped them stay in the game as the Lions lodged only 3 shots on nearly 5 minutes of powerplay time in the second. Vancouver was only kept off the board by the incredible performance of goalie Nolan McMahon. Vancouver exploited the inexperience on the Lethbridge blue line to pound 13 shots on McMahon, but the rookie swiss phenom stopped them all to preserve the lead.

Third Period: The third period was a reverse story of the first and second for these two teams. While Vancouver had outplayed Lethbridge in the first two periods only to be stifled by strong goaltending and missed opportunities, their luck would come around in the third. After killing off the remaining time of a carry over a penalty from the second and an early hooking minor, it was the Whalers turn to strike. Just after 5 minutes of the period, Vancouver had a flurry of shots which culminated in Francois Breton firing one off the pad of McMahon, he would get his own rebound and record his first tally of the season(2-1 Lethbridge). Less than 4 minutes later, Bobby Betcalf would do a very similar trick, after putting his first shot wide of the net he tidied up his own rebound to even the score (2-2). Betcalf continues his red hot scoring pace potting his 5th goal in 7 contests. Not to go down easy Lethbridge responded quickly with Delver Ferguson notching his third goal of the season and finally making the Lethbridge powerplay show results.(3-2 Lethbridge). Lethbridge looked to put the defensive clamps on the game only allowing 1 shot in the next 9 minutes of game time. Kasperi Braulin was pulled for the extra attacker with 1 minute to play in the game. After an extended stay in the Lethbridge zone, defenseman Kaspars Claude winded up a slapshot from the point and rocketed one past McMahon with 17 seconds to play, sending the game to overtime (3-3).

Overtime: The two teams were clearly worn out in overtime and it showed with sloppy play. The only shot on net was a dangerous shot from Hugh Jazz which was deflected on net by Luca Veccelli. Kasperi Braulin tracked it beautifully and we remained tied going to the shootout.

Shootout: Adam Foley tried to slide a shot 5 hole but Braulin was wise to it. Cullen Grey made a magnificent move and beat McMahon on the backhand. After a pair of misses in the second round, it was up to Boruvka Banananak to keep Lethbridges hopes alive. He tried to surprise Braulin with a strong wrister from just outside the hash marks but was denied and Vancouver won (4-3) in the shootout.

Final Score Whalers

4-

3

Postgame: The Lions will need to pick themselves back up after this demoralizing loss. The rookies will need to look to the veterans to see how to bounce back against Kelowna. Vancouver will have to move right along and ready themselves for a strong opponent in Colorado.

3 Stars
1 - Jan Zacha (VAN)
2 - Delver Fudgeson (LBL)
3 - Boruvka Banananak (LBL)

leftwing42 · 08-18-2019, 07:40 PM

An Even Strength affair
Most coaches and analysts will say that special teams will win or lose you the game, and whoever has the better night in that area usually wins the game. However, in tonight's match that doesn't exactly ring true. In the match-up between the Lethbridge Lions and the Vancouver Whalers featured excellent penalty killing along with great goaltending while a man down. The Lion's power play operated at just a 16.67%, going 1 for 6 on the night, while the Whalers came up with 0 goals on 4 attempts. The lack of goals was not from lack of shots though, as Lethbridge peppered Vancouver goalie Kasperi Braulin with 10 shots. Vancouver added 4 shots of their own while up a man.

The Clutch Gene
The Lions entered the 3rd period with 2 goal lead. The Whalers managed to storm back to tie the game, not only once, but twice, after the Lions once again took the lead at 10:02 in the 3rd. The comeback saw the Whaler first line take center stage, accounting for 2 of the 3 goals to come back. Star sophomore center Jan Zacha secured first star of the game with 2 assists, and defenceman Kaspars Claude picked a great time to bury his first of the season, sending the game into overtime with just 17 seconds left in the game on a rebound shot. Goalie Braulin managed to stop 12 shots in the 3rd period and overtime and stopped all 3 shootout attempts from the Lions. Even with all that, unsung hero Cullen Gray managed to put in a clutch performance of his own, setting up the tying goal while scoring the only goal in the shootout to cap off the comeback.

Learning Experience for Lion Cubs
The Lethbridge Lions are a very young team, featuring 11 rookies in the 18 skater lineup, as well as a rookie back up goaltender. The Whalers on the other hand, are a much more experienced team, led by mostly veterans. The Whalers have 6 rookies, all in a more sheltered role. As these young Lethbridge players continue to play and get more experience they will learn what is needed to keep focus in the 3rd and hold on to a lead. While the collapse was on their end tonight, in a couple more seasons look for this Lethbridge team to be a power house with these up and coming players.

ImASurvivor · 08-19-2019, 12:05 AM

Three Stars:
In this segment, we will analyze the players that Simon T chose as the three stars, and determine whether they deserve the accolade.
3 - Boruvka Banananak (LBL)
BB had a strong game against Vancouver and was a big reason that Lethbridge secured a point in this one. Scoring to put Lethbridge up 2-0 late in the first period is the only explanation for BB's presence in the game's strongest players. His game stats support the selection as well as alongside his goal, he had 4 total shots, 2 hits, won a faceoff, all while playing over 16 minutes against Vancouver's top line. One demerit that could be given to BB in this performance is his lack of finishing in the shootout which could have netted his Lion's side another point in a tight race for playoff seeding.
2 - Delver Fudgeson (LBL)
Delver was Lethbridge's top point scorer in this contest with 1 goal and 1 assist. He also had another shot on goal, two blocked shots, all while playing over 25 minutes in the game on the Lions' top pairing of defense. While manning the point on Lethbridge's top powerplay unit halfway through the third period, Delver seemingly slapped the game-winning goal home for his team after Akira Ren fired a point to point pass to him, until Vancouver later pushed the game to overtime with 17 seconds left in the game. Delver's offensive and defensive dominance in this game clearly earned him the second star despite losing the game.
1 - Jan Zacha (VAN)
Jan was the playmaker on Vancouver's second and third goals, one of which came in the dying seconds of the game and was a key cog in the gears of Vancouver's desperation win here in Lethbridge. Elsewhere, Zacha had a blocked shot, won 18 of 31 faceoffs taken, and was a leader on the Whalers' powerplay and penalty kill, all while playing against the top players from the opposing Lions. The clear first star here was nailed by Simon T as I do not believe Vancouver would have won tonight without Zacha's performance.

Standings Shakeup:
Vancouver came into this matchup with Lethbridge having played 6 games prior, winning 4 and losing 2 which would put them above .500 in a tight-knit league. Lethbridge arrived in a completely opposite situation having also played 6 games, winning 2, losing 3 in regulation and losing 1 in overtime. After the game, Lethbridge, who left with a point, has now collected 6 of a possible 14 points, leaving them with a 42.8% point percentage. In the other corner, Vancouver having taken the winner's point from the last moments of desperation, have now earned 10 of a possible 14 points, meaning they leave with a 71.4% point percentage, who teams on different ends of the standings surely.

Turning Points:
Unlike my first post-game analysis, where there was 1 simple turning point, this game saw plenty of tilts in the ice as the game progressed. When looking deeper into the analytics of this game, it appears as if Lethbridge nearly stole this game from a Vancouver side that was dominating them in possession, transition as well as shots on goal. By scoring two goals in the first period, Lethbridge took control of the game early and then began to sit back and position themselves well defensively in hopes of clawing out a victory at home. That was until the third when Vancouver started climbing their way back into the game with two goals of their own before the power-play goal from second star Lethbridge Lion Delver Fudgeson stopped them in their tracks. With 17 seconds left, the momentum shifted completely to the Whalers and after that Lethbridge were done and dusted and would be very fortunate to emerge with an extra point.

Henrik · 08-19-2019, 02:53 AM

Rookie Performance Spotlight

Luca Veccelli Lions

Vecceli put up some impressive overall stats in this game. The Lions first goal was in large part all thanks to his handywork. From winning the face-off in the defensive zone and moving the puck up the ice to assisting in the actual goal, he really showed his colours as a complete player. He posted an impressive face-off percentage of 65%. He put up some monster minutes in tonight's game as well, finishing with 20:23 minutes played with 5:05 and 2:08 of those minutes coming from powerplay and penalty kill respectively.

Francois Breton Whalers

The only rookie with a goal in this game, Breton manged to be effective even though he had less than 10 minutes of ice time(9:54 to be exact). He put up an impressive offensive showing all things considered. He spent a total of two minutes in the sin bin but would quickly redeem himself as he scored only thirty seconds after leaving the box.

Honorable Mentions

Akira Ren

1 Assist, 24:59 Minutes Played

Björn Leppänen Whalers

1 Assist, 2 Shots Blocked, 14:53 Minutes Played

Z0REM · 08-19-2019, 12:06 PM

Possession Recap

This game ended with a pretty even face-off percentage. This would run parallel to the even match that unfolded n the ice today. The Whalers came on top with a slight edge with 52% of the face-offs going in their favor. This slight edge helped drive their shot total up above the Lions with the unfortunate consequence of the goal god just not gracing them with his favor. Most notable face-off player was Marcus Weiser for the Whalers. This rookie, while not having much to show for this efforts, came out of the game with a 66% win percentage. While he was pretty dominant, his counterpart on the other team, Luca Veccelli, came in at 65% and was seen all over the ice just being a better player.

Enough Icing to Frost a Few Cakes

In this game both teams combined for 34 instances of icing. The Lions iced the puck 18 times to the 16 times of the Whalers. Usually we see about half that amount in games played. If we're looking to why the Whalers just had more shots over the Lions we should probably be looking at the discipline of these young rookies and players. This wasn't the beginning of the season any more so players should be trying to avoid costly mistakes like a simple icing play. Rookies Akira Ren and Disisde Dayude had a combined total of 7 of those 18 times. These were both strong players who went early in the draft. Getting them to improve on their passing so they aren't continuously icing the puck might help make this seasons for the Lions.

Credit to Vulfzilla for the awesome render pic

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