(Game #25)Detroit Falcons 2 @ St. Louis Scarecrows 7

St. Louis, MO. - The Detroit Falcons came into the Scottrade Center looking to knock off the division leading Scarecrows, fresh off of a 6-4 win against Prince George the day before. The Scarecrows however, weren't having any of it. Still reeling a bit from a 3-2 loss to Kelowna a night earlier, the Scarecrows started out hot and fast in front of a sold out crowd, scoring 18 seconds into the game. Lets go to the play by play for this first goal:

Quote:"And here we go in St. Louis. Feist wins the opening faceoff back to Targaryen and this game is underway. Targaryen pushes the puck up ice and brings it in over the line. He settles it down and slides it across to his defensive partner Foster. Foster sends it back to Targaryen, who slides it across the ice to the winger Kurczewski. Kurczewski is down by the half-wall and sends it to Foster at the point, Foster sends it right back to Kurczewski who one times it on net, HE SCORESSSSSSSS! JOE KURCZEWSKI LET IT RIP FROM THE RIGHT FACEOFF CIRCLE AND HE BEATS ANDERSON HIGH GLOVE 18 SECONDS INTO THE GAME!. 1-0 SCARECROWS!!"

Kurczewski gets his third of the season, assisted by Foster and Targaryen, and it would only be the beginning of a long night for Detroit as Akeson would strike for St. Louis about 3 and a half minutes later.

Quote:"Celej with the puck and he'll dump it down the ice so the crows can get a line change. Edvins Berzins back to pick up the puck and he passes it down the ice to Hans Moleman. Moleman looking to pass and its intercepted by DarryL Landry in the Detroit zone. Landry drops the puck back to Rivet, who sends it quickly across to Erichsen who takes a shot and it goes wide, rebound in front- THEY SCORE! I didn't see who it was right away but the puck ricocheted back out front from behind the net and it looks like Nate Akeson fired it home right away. Yes, it was Akeson, 2-0 St. Louis only 3:51 into the first period.

Nate Akeson continues his wonderful start to the season, notching his third goal, with assists from Erichsen and Rivet. The Scarecrows were not done in the first period either. With LeClerc off in the box for cross checking, the power play was going to get in on the fun.

Quote:So we'll have a faceoff in the Detroit zone here as the St. Louis power play is winding down. Feist takes the draw and wins it to Kurczewski along the boards. Kurczewski takes a step towards the net and fires a shot THEY SCORE! THE SHOT WAS DEFLECTED THROUGH THE FIVE HOLE OF JEREMY ANDERSON, BY FEIST THE SCARECROWS STRIKE ON THE POWER PLAY, 3-0!

St. Louis' third goal was by it's third different player to score his third goal of the season, as Feist gets his third on the power play with the assist from Kurczewski. The wild first period wasn't done yet, as Detroit finally got on the board with a goal of their own:

Quote:"Zjang has the puck along the boards, and gets hit hard by Rivet and loses the puck. It's picked up by the Falcons' Kaspars Berzins who takes a quick shot that's blocked by Landry. The puck ends up on the stick of Leclerc. Leclerc with control, slides the puck to Metzler at the point. Metzler is looking for a lane and finds Rising Hippo open for a SHOT, THEY SCORE. It was Berzins crashing the net who deflected the Hippo shot, it beats Wahlgren, and Detroit makes the score 3-1 12:09 into the first period.

That's how the first period would finish up, St. Louis 3, Detroit 1. As we moved onto the second period, Detroit was putting the pressure on early in the period but couldn't solve Wahlgren. We got our first goal in the period from another person getting their third goal of the season, Frans Erichsen:

Quote:Detroit dumps the puck into the St. Louis zone, and Akeson is back to get it. Akeson sends a pass up to Erichsen in the neutral zone. Erichsen taps the puck over to Reine who takes into the Detroit zone, 2 on 1 with Erichsen. Reine fakes his shot and freezes the defenseman, slides it over to Erichsen HE SCORES! Frans Erichsen on the one timer from Geoff Reine converts the 2 on 1 and Its 4-1 Scarecrows!

And it was with that that the Falcons' coaching staff pulled Jeremy Anderson, likely to try to light a fire under the team who was still playing quite flat. Sivy McSieve is now between the pipes, but 3 minutes later, he'd be ending up with the same result:

Quote:Geoff Reine holding the puck, looks to make a pass in the neutral zone, which was picked off by Alexis Metzler. Metzler tried to move the puck quickly and he turns it over to Ronnie Westbrook. Westbrook takes it over the line and sends the puck over to Taylor Stach. Stach takes a quick shot the sails over the net, and kicks back out in front right to Reine and HE BURIES IT. REINE FOUND HIMSELF IN THE RIGHT SPOT AND TAPS HOME THE EASY REBOUND OFF THE BACK WALL. 5-1 St. Louis!

Reine's first of the season off the rebound gave St. Louis a 4 goal lead in the second period, and it seemed to take away whatever spark the Falcons had left. The second period wasn't done yet as Detroit managed to get on the board again in the final minute.

Quote:"Less than a minute to go in the period. Zjang taking the faceoff in the Scarecrows zone. He wins it back to PDJ at the point who takes a quick shot and its wide, but THEY SCORE! Sinikka charged the net and found a rebound of his own off the back wall and Detroit cuts into the St. Louis lead, making it 5-2 with 45 seconds left in the second period.

The second period would end that way, with the Scarecrows leading 5-2. It was a slow start to the third period for both teams, until finally Dos Diablo would put one home:

Quote:Edvins Berzins with the puck in the neutral zone, holding it, and gets hit by Foster. Rivet picks up the puck as the Scarecrows go the other way 3 on 1. Rivet drops it to Foster at the point who sends a quick pass over to Stach. Stach the shot, big save by McSieve. The rebound ends up on the stick of Rivet again, Rivet looks to the slot and sends a pass to Diablo AND HE SCORES! Dos Diablo gets his second of the season with a top shelf rocket on the pass from Rivet.

The 6-2 St. Louis lead would last for about 3 more minutes when Jason Visser would close the scoring:

Quote:Here's Rivet now bringing the puck into the zone. He slides a pass over to Cirocco, who quickly sends it to Landry. Landry winds up and takes the shot, blocked by Metzler. The puck goes right to Cirocco who takes a shot of his own and that one's blocked by Leclerc! The puck ends up on the tape of Visser and he puts it home! Jason Visser makes the game 7-2 and any remaining Detroit fans have headed for the exits.

And that's how the game would end. Lets delve into the numbers:

Shots
STL: 33
DET: 22

Hits
STL: 20
DET: 16

Faceoffs
STL: 44
DET: 34

Blocked Shots
STL: 8
DET: 12

Penalty Minutes
STL: 6
DET:12

What the stats show us is what you could've figured out from the 7-2 final score. STL won most of the stats that you want to win in most games. Detroit's penalties could've hurt them more, but St. Louis was only 1/5 on the PP. St. Louis had goals from 7 different scorers.

Three Stars
1. Joe Kurczewski (1g, 1a)
2. Nate Akeson (1g, 1a)
3. Frans Erichsen (1g, 1a)