<div align="center">#11 - DETROIT FALCONS AT HALIFAX RAIDERS

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Game Link

Detroit takes its traveling media circus and rap emporium to the ScotiaBank Centre, as the Falcons face the Halifax Raiders. Both teams enjoyed a rest on day three, although Halifax enters in a much better mood after winning their last game against Montreal. Halifax also left in a happy mood, taking a 3-1 victory while Detroit falls to 0-2-1 after winning the elusive and mystical preseason championship.

1st Period

Good news, bad news, Halifax fans! Bad news first: Your team took a penalty in the first period ... and another ... and another. Good news, Richard C. Hocolate was up to the task, stopping five shots during the three penalty kills, none bigger than a pair of saves during the 16th minute.

Quote:... puck along the blue line, Alex Berkis scrapping with Blake Battle for the puck. Berkis comes out with it, pass to Sinikka, SHOT AND BATTED AWAY by Hocolate!

Quote:Now Prince Daniel James chases down the puck after a successful clear, 1:30 remaining in the power play for the Falcons. James sends it up the ice to Zach Evans, Evans with some space, Evans carries it into the attacking zone, Evans fires, ANOTHER SAVE BY HOCOLATE! This time he covers, faceoff coming. Oh man, Evans can’t help but shake his head after that one.

When the dust settled, Detroit and Halifax went to the locker rooms for the first intermission, tied 0-0.

2nd period

The were several more people headed to the penalty box in the second period, thanks to a massive brawl seven and a half minutes into the second period.

Quote:Moleman dumps the puck, new lines out for Detroit ... and it looks like ... yes, we’re going to have a scrap here between Battle and Nerokov! Oh, now things are really getting out of hand! Matthew Shea has now dropped the gloves, he and Wiljian Zjang are throwing punches! This has devolved into a brawl here at Scotiabank Centre! Kaiser and Ryan are tangled up with Prince Daniel James ... Evans and Flower exchanging pleasantries as Battle and Nerokov both tumble to the ice. I’m not quite sure ... what Jari Sinikka is doing. He has skated over to the ... I believe he has a boombox and a microphone over by the Detroit bench. That’s a peculiar strategy.

Eventually, order was restored, with Detroit somehow earning a power play after everyone was sent to the sin bin except for Sinikka. Finally, Detroit broke through on the power play.

Quote:McSieve recovers the dump, plays it to Berkis. Berkis shuffles it to Edvins Berzins. Into the attacking zone, back to Berkis. Berkis loses it, Moleman is there, he recovers. Moleman, looking some space, fires, IT’S IN! Detroit breaks through with the first goal of the game, I believe it was deflected by Berkis in front of the net! Certainly Berkis thinks that, as he celebrates with his linemates. Nonetheless, it is Detroit 1, Halifax 0 with 11:29 remaining in the second period.

3rd period

Following Berkis’ goal, Detroit was 20 minutes away from its first victory of the season. However, Halifax had other ideas for the third period. The Raiders first tied the game on a beautifully executed play ending in a Jean-Luc Reflieux goal.

Quote:... Azarov carries the puck across the blue line as the clock hits 15:00 remaining in the third. Pass to Shea, now along the boards to Battle at the point. Battle hesitates, now to Pietra Volkova. Volkova finds Reflieux, Reflieux trying to create, now drops it back to Volkova near the blue line. Volkova ... PASS TO REFLIEUX IN FRONT OF THE NET AND HE PUTS IT IN! Perfect pass to the cutting Reflieux, who buries the shot above McSieve’s left shoulder, and we are tied up in Halifax!

Two and a half minutes later, Halifax would strike again to take a 2-1 lead. This time, the goal would come at the expense of a Falcons turnover.

Quote:So after the off-side, faceoff, Viktor Nerokov against Alex Reed. Nerokov wins it, kicks it over to Prince Daniel James. James into the attacking zone, looks for Zjang but it’s stolen by Colin Banning! Odd-man rush for Halifax, Banning plays it to Reed Laing, Laing against McSieve, LAING SCORES! 2-1 Halifax! McSieve has had a rough start to this season, but he was stranded on an island on that one after the offensive zone turnover.

Halifax would drive home the final nail in the waning seconds, as Joey Ryan put away a rebound goal to give Halifax the 3-1 win.

Quote:... Kosonen with the interception, he plays it to Colin Banning. One minute remains, time running out for Detroit. Banning to Kaiser, back to Banning. Banning to Flower IN THE SLOT, SAVE REBOUND GOAL! Joey Ryan on the rebound! And that should do it for this one! McSieve could only get a pad on Flower’s shot, Ryan pounced on the rebound and buried it. 3-1 Halifax with 44 seconds remaining in a three-goal third period for the Raiders.

Three Stars

Third Star - Reed Laing, Halifax: The rookie right winger scored the go-ahead goal for the Raiders, while also tallying up a pair of hits in the contest.

Second Star - Colin Banning, Halifax: The straw that stirred the drink for Halifax on both ends of the ice. Banning assisted on both Laing and Ryan’s goals while laying a couple of hits and blocking two shots.

First Star - Richard C. Hocolate: The team’s best penalty killer on a ngiht that saw six Detroit power plays, Hocolate was sensational in net. Hocolate stopped 33 of Detroit’s 34 shots, improving to 2-1-0 with a .923 save percentage and a 2.33 GAA.

Notebook

Best of Three?: Tonight’s game marked the first of three consecutive games between the Raiders and Falcons. Tomorrow, the two teams will meet in Detroit, before returning to Halifax for the final game of the “series.” It will be critical for the Falcons to pick up a home win tomorow before returning to Halifax. Otherwise, they could be returning home winless through six games to face Prince George.

McSieve’s Struggles: Sivy McSieve is arguably one of the most talented goalies in the SMJHL, a returning netminder given the starting nod while Jeremy Anderson develops under his tutelage. However, McSieve has been nothing short of awful in S30, following up a pedestrian preseason with a slow start to the regular season. After allowing three goals on 21 shots tonight, McSieve holds a .828 save percentage and a 3.57 GAA.

To the Victor Goes the Spoils: Hocolate is leading the SMJHL in save percentage, but his teammates are blocking their fair share of pucks as well. Victor Lindstrom, in his second season with the Raiders, blocked six Detroit shots in the third period of the game. Including a pair of back-to-back shots by Alex Berkis and Prince Daniel James in the second minute of the period. Without the “points” to his credit, Lindstrom will be overlooked in the box score, but his defensive sacrifices were critical to the Halifax victory.