Simulation Hockey League

                    GAME 88
  Halifax Raiders VS Anaheim Outlaws  


Game Link

The Anaheim Outlaws hosted the Halifax Raiders in what would turn out to be an overtime thriller. Halifax had been on a good run, with points in 4 of the last 5 games, one of which being a win over Anaheim just a couple days before. 


The first period started with plenty of missed shots from both sides, and quite a few stretches of uninterrupted play. The action went up and down the ice until there was 4:33 left in the period when Anaheim got called for an icing after a clearing attempt by Rhys Pritchard went past the reach of Kevin Robinson. Raiders center Bjornosonson won the draw, and a slick feed from defenseman Abel Skinner found Lucas Hellquist on the back door with an open net, and an easy open net for the forward. The Outlaws found success in the last minute of the period, scoring twice within ten seconds of each other. Rikard Hammarberg scored off of a turnover, and then Kevin Robinson scored on a nice deflection nine seconds later. 


The second period started out slow with the Outlaws playing safe while trying to preserve the lead. A scrum in front of the Anaheim net halfway through the period got scrappy, and ended up with Valentin Kalashnikov getting set to the box for a two minute charging penalty. The Outlaws took advantage of the power play when John Forfeit blasted a shot into the back of the net for a 3-1 lead. 


Halifax was looking for answers as the third began, trying to figure out the Outlaws stingy defense.  They found the break they were looking for early, after a clean breakout from rookie center Alexander Roach, who made a couple of nice moves through the neutral zone to set up Abel Skinner for the one-timer. The Raiders start to gain momentum through the rest of the period, and they get a chance to tie the game with a man advantage after Bale sends the puck over the glass for a delay of game penalty. Abel Skinner, who had been having a great night, scores the tying goal with a scorching wrister from the slot. 


The game would stay tied at the end of the third and go into overtime. It wouldn’t last long, however, as Rhys Pritchard would bury the game winner after a turnover by the Raiders in their own zone. 

Final Score:   3 - 4   OT


3 Stars of the Game:


1- Abel Skinner 
2- Kevin Robinson 
3- Rhys Pritchard 



3 of 15 

Comment 1 - Unsung Hero: He didn't get an assist on the overtime winning goal, but Anaheim center Ivan Maximus helped set it up. After Anaheim iced the puck early in the overtime, Ivan won the faceoff and was able to clear the puck out of the Anaheim zone. The Outlaws were able to set up a possession in the Halifax zone and Ivan's line went off on a change and the next line on scored the game winner thanks to an established presence in the Halifax zone. On top of that critical overtime faceoff win, Ivan went 14/16 on faceoffs in regulation for a mindboggling 87.5%. 

Comment 2 - Turning Point: In what nearly became a costly mistake for Anaheim, third line Winger Bale cleared the puck into the crowd at 14:00 for a Delay of Game penalty. Less than a minute before, Bale was trying to score an insurance goal, so the attempt to salt the game away is understandable, but the clearing attempt was a little overzealous.  28 seconds later, Halifax defenseman Abel Skinner scored the game tying goal, his second goal of the game, to secure a point for a Halifax and send the game to overtime.  Bale is lucky his team bailed him out by winning the game in overtime. Disaster averted, but just barely. 

Comment 3 - Somebody's gotta win right?: For being an overtime game, this wasn't a particularly great showing by either goalie. Winning goalie Separa Borro for Anaheim only made 15 saves on 18 shots for a dreadful 0.833 save percentage.  However, he did make one save on the only shot he faced in overtime. He gave up a rebound on that save, but Halifax was unable to direct another shot on goal before it was over. Halifax goalie Olli Saarinen Jr. fared slightly better, despite taking the loss. He made 25 saves on 29 shots for a 0.862 save percentage. He only faced one shot in the overtime and let that one in, so not a good finish to the game.

Save of the game

Ooowee! Late in the third period, game being tied 3-3 and Anaheim forward Kevin Robinson has the game in his hands. And what does Halifax goaltender Saarinen Jr. do? Look at this larceny! The Finnish wall goes old school and schools the whole Anaheim roster. Stack those pads baby! Anaheim home crowd was already standing on their feet to celebrate the late goal that would have ensured the win for the Outlaws but Saarinen Jr. says no and Halifax fans says YES!
Unfortunately for Halifax they lose in overtime but at least this amazing save gave them 1 point for the standings.

Stat Pack Breakdown

Outlaws Dominate at the Dot
While the score of this game was tight, the Outlaws were incredibly good from the draw against the Raiders centers. Anaheim managed to win 42 faceoffs versus the Raiders mere 26 as the Halifax centers had an awful day at the office barely getting possession for their team from the dot.

Equal Physicality
In what was a rather lopsided statistical day for the Outlaws, they were matched equally in terms of physical play as the Raiders matched their 16 hits throughout the course of play, but of course that was at the expense of having six penalty minutes versus the Anaheim two.

Comment #1

Secondary Scoring Propels Anaheim

The Outlaws couldn’t get production out of their top forwards and defense pairing, but they did manage to get production elsewhere in their lineup.  Anaheim’s second line center, Kevin Robinson, had a three point game scoring a goal and notching two helpers, including the game winner in overtime.  At the dot, he won 12 faceoffs out of 22 and led the team with 5 shots on goal.  Rookie winger Ethan Price recorded his first SMJHL assist on Robinson’s goal as well.  Even the fourth line got in on the action as center Rikard Hammarberg scored with 42 seconds left in the first period.

Key Moments of the Game:

1) For faceoff draws, Anaheim Outlaw's Kevin Robinson held his own in the dot, going 12 for 22 in the dot. In one particular match up in a head-to-head against Halifax Raider's Bjornoson Bjornosonson, Robinson won 4 out of 6 draws for what most would consider a winning record in that department. However one of the draws that Bjornosonson did win against Robinson, it was a key play in leading to the first goal of the game. The draw went back to Raider's defenseman Abel Skinner sending a diagonal pass to right winger Indigo Trevino who then sent it right back across in the midst of the chaos finding the uncovered Lucas Hellquist for an easy tape in on the left side of the net. No point for Bjornosonson for that important faceoff win.

2) With some familiar names in the first minute of the overtime period, Skinner was the defenseman to retrieve the dump-in in his own zone. With 2 goals and 1 assist to his name, everything seemed to be going well for the top pairing dman. Unfortunately due to a complete brain fart, he sends a poorly misplaced pass that Robinson swoops in to intercept before it exits the Raiders' zone. In the ensuing 3-on-1 play with the Raiders' players trying to turn back and cover for their d-man's mistake, Robinson sends the pass back to Leonid Kofix who holds onto it until he catches Rhys Pritchard for the game-winning cross crease tap in! Interesting tidbit, Kofix is typically on the 1st line RW, but the Outlaws chose an aggressive forward stack by having their top forwards take reps on defense in 4vs4 situations. Looks like it paid off for this situation.

Revenge is best served cold.
Halifax has had Anaheim’s number this season, winning the previous two games this season, but it was Anaheim who came out ahead during this evening’s match, played just two days after Anaheim lost 4-3. It wasn’t an easy game, as the Outlaws needed overtime to finally get their first win against Halifax this season. Halifax drew first blood with Lucas Hellquist scoring his second goal of the season. Anaheim then scored three in a row, with Rikard Hammarberg, Kevin Robinson and John Forfeit each scoring to give Anaheim a 3-1 lead at the second intermission. Halifax would push back, with two goals by Abel Skinner to force overtime, where Rhys Pritchard played hero and potted his 5th goal of the season to defeat Halifax.

Skin in the game
Abel Skinner was a force to be reckoned with this game, with 3 points (2G – 1A) on the night. Every time Abel touched the puck, he was dangerous all night, shooting 100% (2 shots, 2 goals) and giving fits to the Anaheim defense. Abel has tormented the Outlaws all season scoring in each game and racking up multiple points twice. Upon the end of the night, Skinner has 4 goals and 2 assists in the 3 games played. For Anaheim to be successful, they will need to find a way to neutralize Skinner when they face off again in 4 days.

3 stars
As mentioned, with 2 goals in the third to rally Halifax to get a point, Abel Skinner earned the first star of the game with 3 points in 22 minutes of ice time in a primarily defensive role on the penalty kill and no powerplay time. Kevin Robinson from Anaheim was the second star of the game, scoring once and having two helpers for 3 points in 18 minutes of ice time. Rhys Pritchard captured the third star of the game with a blast from the point past Olli Saarinen Jr. in overtime for the win. He also assisted on Kevin Robinson’s goal in the first period.