<center>St. Louis Scarecrows vs Kelowna Knights
Game 36

It was a rough and tumble game for the St. Louis Scarecrows and Kelowna Knights as both teams recorded a combined total of 30 penalty minutes. The Knights put on a clinic as they scored 3 goals, two of them on the power play, to shut the Scarecrows out.

Player Match-Up of the Knight</center>
Casey Holmes (STL) recorded a fairly impressive save percentage of .906 in the Scarecrows’ loss, turning aside 29 out of 32 shots. Unfortunately, Holmes’ defenders weren’t on their game in front of him--their dismal efforts on the penalty kill were proof enough of that. The Scarecrows’ offense was lacking as well, as they failed to convert on 6 full power plays.

Conversely, Mikke Laukkanen (KEL) stopped all 28 shots that came his way, while his defenders blocked 12 shots. With 14 minutes spent on the kill, the Knights’ ability to clear the puck out of the defensive zone was given a chance to shine. Their offensive capabilities, especially on the power play, kept Laukkanen and his team feeling comfortable throughout 60 minutes.

The Scarecrows have gone 6-2-1 in the season so far, a comparable number to the Knights’ record of 7-2-0. The two teams are vying for the top slot in the overall standings, and analysts are already looking forward to a potential Four Star Cup Final between these two teams. Their performances come down to how well they can work as a team, and the Knights undoubtedly came out on top in that regard tonight.

<center>Most Chivalrous (Valuable) Player</center>
Defenseman Fedor Shirobokov opened the scoring on the powerplay at 0:38 in the first after St. Louis’ Danny Foster went off for slashing. Dieter Dominique won the face-off against Eugene Feist to the right of the Scarecrows’ net, sending the puck to a waiting Mia Landvik, who faked a shot in front of the net and passed the puck to Shirobokov, allowing him to take advantage of the open expanse of net on his side.

Shirobokov would go to work on the power play again in the second period as Foster took another minor, this one for hooking at 3:38. After the Scarecrows cleared the puck and made a line change, the Knights cycled the puck up the ice into the Scarecrows’ zone, culminating in Mikko Linna passing to Shirobokov only for him to send it back to Linna, who roofed it past Holmes.

In addition to his offensive capabilities on the power play, Shirobokov played a full 6 minutes on the Knights’ flawless penalty kill, blocked 1 shot, and doled out 4 hits. His presence on both sides of the ice earned him a well-deserved second star of the game.

★ Mikke Laukkanen (KEL)
★★ Fedor Shirobokov (KEL)
★★★ Mikko Linna (KEL)

<center>Post-Game Interview with Mikko Linna</center>
How much do you think the team relies on Laukkanen?

As much as any team relies on their goalie. Unfortunately there will be games where he'll have to carry us, and the other way around. We do our best to support him and he does his best to stand tall behind us.

Your powerplay really clicked in this game, what do you think contributed to that?

It's something we've been working on and really trying to improve. I think all the practice time we've dedicated to special teams really paid off tonight.

Do you think discipline is a problem for the Knights?

No. [glares at the media scrum until it disperses]