<a href='index.php?showuser=1322' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-45'>mpc</a> since the claim thread is locked, this completes my cap

We're back again for another exciting game recap courtesy of SMJHL Today. Today's matchup was between the Halifax Raiders and the St Louis Scarecrows. The game was hard-fought on both ends, and some rather uncharacteristic statlines led to yet another Scarecrows victory. It's interesting to note that this matchup was eventually a first-round playoff series, and the Raiders posed the biggest problem to St. Louis - the Crows needed 6 games to move forward, when they only needed 5 to finish the Four Star Cup run as well as the Conference Finals.

Let's kick things off with some Keys to the Game for both sides.

Halifax Raiders

• Shoot early and often. Although Casey Holmes is no slouch in net (at this point in the season he was 9-3-1), he was prone to some inconsistent play whenever the opposing team would get an early goal and shoot often. It's up to those fierce snipers on the first line in Felix Herzog and Leif de Bruin to really kick things off and let momentum take its course.
  
• Don't get bullied. The Crows are stocked up on big hitters, and the Raiders don't have much to combat that. While they can simply avoid the physical play, it might be useful to stop the bullying by fighting fire with fire. Look for Montel Vontavious Porter to unleash a few hits should the going get tough.
  
• Keep the faceoff battle close. I bring this up every time, but Charlyb'y is a game-changer. If you lose 2/3rds of the faceoffs to him, you'll probably lose the game, given the offensive firepower that surrounds him. Hopefully De Bruin and rookie sensation Jean-Luc Reflieux can step up to the plate.
  

St Louis Scarecrows

• Get the puck to Erichsen. It's true, Frans Erichsen is having a great time out there for the Crows. He was at the top of the league in points for most of the season. Give him the puck and let him do what he does best - put a lot of shots on net and hope for a mistake from the opposing goalie.
  
• Block some shots. It's rarely mentioned by the media, but the Crows do have quite a few great shot blockers. The leader of this bunch is Kelly Rivet, who had 63 shot blocks over the course of the season. Vincenzo Matteo and Joe Kerr also had their fair share, with 47 and 44 respectively. If the Raiders get to shooting a little too much, look for these guys to take a dive.
  
• Don't overthink it. Coming into this game, the Crows have won 2 in a row. They played Halifax in the game before that, only to lose in OT, 5-4. Usually the idea of losing in overtime to a team and playing them again is daunting, but the depth of St Louis should leave them reassured. Not changing the gameplan too much is the way to go.
  

With those out of the way, let's check out a few highlights from the game.

First Period: Halifax Shoots 100%
The first 20 minutes of action was rather strange, for multiple reasons. For starters, the Scarecrows only managed 7 shots on net. That'd be the strangest stat of the period, if not for how many shots Halifax had: ONE. Yes, just a single shot in the entire first period. And we know exactly when it came, because it was a good one from Corey Eaves:

"And it's Travis Svahn finally making an offensive move for the Raiders, over six minutes into this game ... Svahn looks for Marner ... picked off by Adam Greenholm who stumbles and gives the puck right back! Now he's out of position! Matthew Shea takes the puck toward the net. He finds Marner, Marner fires back to Corey Eaves ... SHOOTS ... SCOOOORES! Corey Eaves makes the Raiders 1-for-1 on the night, and we have a tie game! What a counter attack when Halifax needed it the most, and Casey Holmes is NOT happy in the Scarecrows net right now ..."

As the commentary mentioned, Bill Pickle had put one away a minute before that. A few minutes after the Halifax goal, Frans Erichsen scored his 9th of the season on another brilliant offensive play set up by an Alexander Charlyb'y faceoff victory.

Second Period: Sugar Free C.Hocolate
Both defenses played absolutely brilliantly in this game. It's also fair to say, though, that not many shots actually made it to the net. Frans Erichsen picked up the scoring right where he left off, just seconds after Jack Dabkowski was put in the box for hooking. The powerplay has been a force for St Louis all season, and this just continued the streak. With the score 3-1 and Richard C. Hocolate sweating bullets in net, the Crows looked for the finishing blow in the closing minutes:

"Hocolate goes behind the net to gather the puck. He sends it forward to Marner ... Marner skates rather slowly to the blue line, looking for a long pass up ice - INTERCEPTED! It's Rogers looking the other way for St Louis! He gets the puck to Kelly Rivet. He's FLYING toward the net! Pass to Harry Hans - ONE TIMER! GOOOOOOOAL!! There was nooo doubt about that one! Hocolate is absolutely getting pulled after that, what a miscue by him and Marner. No sense of urgency in a 3-1 game ... well, now it's 4-1, and this game's all but over given the lack of shots ..."

Third Period: Holmes Takes it Home
Let's be honest; there wasn't much excitement after the 2nd period of play. The game was basically won after Hocolate got pulled, and although Carter Fleury did a decent job stopping the bleeding, the Scarecrows weren't necessarily looking for more goals. To the Raiders' credit, they certainly did not give up. They had 16 shots in the third period, which is only 2 fewer than both teams had combined through the first two periods. Was the Scarecrows defense getting careless? Absolutely. But you have to give credit to Casey Holmes for standing on his head and only letting in 1 of those 16.

Final Score
Scarecrows - 5
Raiders - 2

Other Key Performances: Felix Herzog had a rough game, with 6 shots (most of them in that 3rd period of craziness) that didn't net a single point, along with a -2 rating ... Victor Lindstrom and Colin Banning did most of the dirty work for the Raiders, combining for 5 of the team's 8 shot blocks ... Danny Foster had a game-high four hits and only managed a single penalty for interference ... Alexander Charlyb'y and Eugene Fiest were a combined 33/53 from the faceoff circle, which is 62%.