<div align="center">Game 54: Detroit Falcons v Halifax Raiders
Game Thread



Goals

DET- Rising Hippo (Alexis Metzler, Wiljian Zjang) at 2:58 (1st)
HAL- Solaire Azarov (Colin Banning, Alex Reed) at 19:27 (1st)
DET- Hans Moleman (Marc Leclerc, Alexis Metzler) at 19:43 (1st)
HAL- Niklas Flower (Victor Lindstrom, Greta Iversen) at 1:12 (PP) (2nd)
HAL- Jean-Luc Reflieux (Niklas Flower, Blake Fenrir) at 11:33 (2nd)
HAL- Reed Laing (Blake Battle, Matthew Shea) at 8:41 (3rd)
DET- Alex Berkis (Alexis Metzler, Hans Moleman) at 17:32 (3rd)

Penalties

HAL- Greta Iversen for Roughing (Minor) at 6:30 (1st)
HAL- Pietra Volkova for Slashing (Minor) at 10:24 (1st)
DET- Henrik Vikstrom for Holding (Minor) at 12:34 (1st)
DET- Cikgnar Konstantinov for Interference (Minor) at 19:44 (1st)
HAL- Alex Reed for Cross-checking (Minor) at 5:48 (2nd)
HAL- Hunter Johnson for Hooking (Minor) at 14:12 (2nd)
HAL- Hogan Miller for Roughing (Minor) at 16:23 (2nd)
HAL- Alex Reed for High Sticking (Minor) at 4:53 (3rd)
HAL- Toivo Kosonen for Delay Of Game (Minor) at 11:23 (3rd)
DET- Hans Moleman for Tripping (Minor) at 14:44 (3rd)

The Game</div>

Halifax was too much for Detroit last night, defeating the Falcons 4 goals to 3 in a tense, penalty filled game at the Scotiabank Centre. The Raiders dominated possession of the puck, winning more than twice as many faceoffs in the third period as Detroit, and finishing with an impressive teamwide 61.54% faceoff winning percentage for the game.

The game started badly for Halifax, ceding two goals in the first period to the Falcons. The second goal was scored just 16 seconds after the Raiders own first goal, with a bad pass by Isaac Kaiser being intercepted by veteran Alex Berkis and eventually sent to Hans Moleman, who put it home past Halifax goaltender Georgette Pel for his 6th goal of the season.

A costly interference call against Cikgnar Konstantinov of Detroit at the very next faceoff, however, gave the Raiders the opportunity to level the scores at 2-2 early in the 2nd period, and the war continued until Halifax broke through again in the 12th minute; a defensive blunder by Alec Derin putting the Raiders in a 2 on none situation in the slot, and an easy goal for Jean-Luc Reflieux.

The game did not improve any further for Detroit, with a goal by Reed Laing putting the game out of reach despite a final effort by Alex Berkis to redeem himself near the end of the third, and the game ended with a Halifax victory and with many unresolved questions for the Falcons on the viability of their special teams. Detroit went none out of seven against a very average Raiders penalty kill, and gave up a goal themselves in only three power plays, and currently have both of the worst power play and penalty kill percentages in the SMJHL.

<div align="center">The Crucial Point</div>

Halifax was severely demoralized after the second goal by Detroit in the first period, and could have very easily rolled over; instead, they rallied. An excellent hit by Prince Daniel James on Niklas Flower left him out of position and unable to corral the puck before Victor Lindstrom. A crafty pass by Lindstrom enabled the just-hit Niklas Flower to score the game tying goal, and fired up the Raiders bench for the rest of the game.

<div align="center">3 Stars</div>

The third star goes to Colin Banning of Halifax, who was dominant on the ice as a defenseman for the Raiders in a game where the points were widely shared across the Halifax Roster. Colin Banning gained an assist on the first Raiders goal of the game, blocked three shots, and made five strong hits.

The second star goes to Rising Hippo of Detroit, who scored the first goal of the game and was a very strong presence for the Falcons on the forecheck. Rising Hippo had five shots on goal, and four hits among an otherwise largely lacklustre Detroit outfit.

The first star goes to Alexis Metzler of Detroit, who assisted on all three goals scored by the Falcons. Alexis Metzler had two shots on goal, including an unlucky effort that hit the crossbar of the net, and blocked two shots including one in the crucial cross-period powerplay that enabled the Raiders to equalize the game at two goals all.