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Final Score
4-5


Kelowna Knights at Halifax Raiders Game 34


Kelowna Knights
Anatoly Yanovich - Dieter Dominique – Geronimo Otto
Ty Justice – Cara Hohenberg
Max Smith-Frey

Halifax Raiders
Flower – Jean-Luc Reflieux – Kaiser
Blake Battle – Mathew Shea
Richard C. Hocolate

Game Link
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Introduction

Thank you for joining us on the Post Game Show, we saw Kelowna make the trip to Halifax. Kelowna entered today with a (4-3-1) record in their first 8 games of the season. Halifax's record was (3-4-1) in their first 8, putting them tied for last with Detroit. Both teams came into this game losing 2-1 the night before, Halifax in Colorado, and Kelowna falling to Montreal. This game was the first in a home-home series, the next game Halifax heads to Kelowna.


1st Period

With both teams coming off losses two nights ago, both teams aimed to come out strong. Halifax managed to do this scoring 3 goals in the first period. Fred Toucher started off the scoring:

Quote: We have a face-off in the Knights’ end, Beau Brent lining up against Jean-Luc Reflieux. Beau Bent ties him up, they battle for the puck, Bent gains possesion, loses posseion, Battle picks up the puck and shoots a one time, Toucher gets the rebound and skates left, fires and HE SCORES! Fred Toucher with the goal at 5:26; his second career goal

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Kelowna looked to bounce back after going down by 1 in the first 5 minutes. But their eagerness caused them a penalty for hooking at 8:18 when Kornel Kasparek hooked a Raider vying for the puck. This put the Raiders on the 5-4, and saw many chances where a power-play goal was imminent.

Quote:Reflieux wins the face-off back, Lindrstrom picks the puck and fires but Andriana Starsota dives in front of the shot! Lindstrom regains the puck and drives the net with Starsota out of the way, he shoots but SMITH-FREY stops the puck with a miraculous save!

Max Smith-Frey managed to stop three shots-on-goal during the powerplay. The next goals came 30 seconds, starting at 12:24. Solaire Azarov manage to score off the one-timer following a face-off win by Alex Reed.

Quote:Solaire Azarov’s goal puts the Raiders up 2-0. Victor Lindstrom has the puck now, moving up the ice, Wilhelm huber with a huge hit on Lindstrom causes him to lose the puck. Pietra Volkova gains the puck and advances moves pass the blue line, some fancy footwork, she shoots and SHE SCORES! Halifax Raiders up 3!

The mood in the Scotiabank Centre grew very physical with Halifax holding the three-goal lead. Kelowna’s Geronimo Otto tried dumping the puck but it went over the glass and resulted in a delay of game penalty. Halifax was unable to capitalize on the powerplay, perhaps downshifting gears since going up 3-0. The next goal came in the last seconds of the 1st period:

Quote:Alex Reed carries the puck across the blue line, but the ref blows the play dead, off-sides is the call. Reed and Justs Sirmais line up in the neautral zone, 0:32 seconds left in this period, Reed is tied up and and Michael Burrows gathers the puck. The right winger carries the puck into the offensive-zone, he breaks through, he shoots and scores with 9 seconds left! They call the 3-lead, “hockey’s most dangerous lead” for a reason.

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<div align="center"> 1-3 </div>


2nd Period

The 2nd period proved to be quite an affair. To start the period off Halifax scored another goal, 3:25 into the period. Set up by Matthew Shea and Joey Ryan, Blake Battle increased the lead to 4-1. After giving up 4 goals, Kelowna’s coach replaces Max Smith-Frey with Jason Aittokallio, the first overall pick in the SMJHL draft. Kelowna’s Kornel Kasparek was called for interference at 3:59, sending Halifax back to the powerplay.

Quote:Niklas Flower with the puck on his stick crosses the blueline into Kelowna’s zone, he let’s a shot rip but Aiitokallio blocks it, Flower gains the rebound and backhands it in for his first career goal! Flower puts Halifax up 5-1!

Tensions were at an all time high after Halifax went up 5-1. 14:30 in 2nd Period: Alex Reed carries the puck into the neutral zone, across the ice Justs Sirmais hits Reed, and goes after the puck, Azarov tries stopping him but uses his stick and is called for hooking. At the same time Pietra Volkova is called for high sticking Yanovich, which Wilhelm Huber responds by skating across the ice and hitting Volkova into the boards. Alex Reed takes exception and hits Huber into the boards, Yanovich comes to his teammate’s defense and tries fighting Reed. Greta Iversen skates into the huddle and drops her gloves, she grabs the first Knight she can and starts fighting.

Quote:It’s the UFC in Scotiabank Centre, people are getting hit into the boards! There’s Greta Iversen skating to the commotion, she drops her gloves! She grabs Justs Sirmais and starts laying haymekers like she’s Floyd Mayweather! Sirmais responds and they’re tangoing!

They separated the two before any blood was drawn, which irked Iversen even more. She reportedly mouthed an explicit remark to the ref, resulting in Iversen being ejected from the game. In total, 8 penalties were called, 32 penalty minutes were called for this altercation. Raiders’ fans were pumped, as the Scotiabank Centre’s atmosphere was electric as Raiders went on the penalty kill. They were quickly quieted by Kelowna’s second goal of the night:

Quote:Beau Bent lines up across Reed Laing, Bent wins the face-off, and passes the puck to Dominique who let’s it rip, and he scores! The lead is cut to 3!

<div align="center"> 2-5 </div>



3rd Period

On a 5-3 powerplay, Dieter Dominique scored his second of the night at 7:19 in the third. That marked two unanswered goals since going up 5-1 in the second. The crowd was silenced once more at 8:48:

Quote:There’s a race for the free puck, Wilhelm Huber gains control of it and drives for the net, he shoots and he scores! The lead is cut down to 5-4!

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These fans in Halifax were confused and frustrated that their team’s 5-1 lead was cut to 5-4 following 3 unanswered goals. Hocolate managed to hold the lead and give his team the much needed victory.

<div align="center">Final Score
4-5 </div>

<div align="center">Three Stars
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Dieter Dominique

“Don’t call it a comeback” Dominique started the Knights’ scoring rally by notching two goals. This leadership by the Centerman earned him the 1st star of the game. Even with his team down 5-1, Dominique put the team on his back and cut that lead to 5-3. This leadership inspired the Knights to get back in the game and give it their all. In addition, Dominique put on a marathon in terms of minutes played -- at 24:45 minutes played, he led skaters in minutes played. His production, leadership, and endurance earned him first star.

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Blake Battle

A goal, an assist, and a win; earned Battle the 2nd star of the night. Battle helped set the game’s tempo early on by assisting Toucher on the first goal, five minutes into the game. Being in Halifax’s top-pairing, Battle was counted on in all situations and his help contributed to squashing Kelowna’s comeback attempt. The top-paring defenseman kept his team calm in a dire situation where some would otherwise panic. For this, he earned the 2nd star.

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Michael Burrows

Two points, a goal and an assist were not enough to complete the comeback. The right winger who gets fewer minutes than Kelowna’s top-6 made the most of his time on the ice, and made an argument for being elevated. His goal with 9 seconds left in the game stopped Halifax’s 3-0 run. Even at the end of the game, in the third period, Michael Burrows helped assist Kelowna’s 4th goal. With limited ice-time, Burrows played the second biggest role in the comeback attempt. </div>


Final Take

This wraps up the 11th day of the season. A tumultuous ride where we saw 9 goals resulted in both teams donning (4-4-1) records. Halifax’s Pietra Volkova and Niklas Flower, both scored their first career goals. Wilhelm Huber records his first goal, and Dieter Dominique’s two goals place him at 5g through nine games. These two teams face-off in Kelowna in two days. Both teams have demonstrated what they’re capable of and we can expect an exciting contest.