Montreal Powers Past Halifax With A Strong 2nd Period
by Rusty Klesla / ********.com Staff Writer

In the 85th game of the 30th SMJHL season, the Montreal Militia played a tight game against the Halifax Raiders that ended 3-2 in favor of Montreal. Nathan Russett had two assists and Wesley Wells scored what ended up being the game winning goal on a powerplay at 16:16 of the second period.

While the entire game was even all the way, Montreal being stronger in the second period proved to be too much for the Raiders who gave up 3 goals in the period and only scored one goal in the period. The game deciding 3-2 goal came when Raiders defenseman Matthew Shea took a hooking penalty, sending the Montreal Militia to a powerplay. Johnny Watson won the following faceoff, getting the puck to Nathan Russett who settled the puck down and sent it to Wesley Wells who unleashed a lethal one timer slapshot from the point that got past a screened Hocolate.

While the Montreal Militia had a good powerplay when it counted, they only scored once on 5 attempts, even when Matthew Shea took two minor penalties in quick succession, of which the first one lead to a powerplay goal by Wesley Wells. “Yeah, I think we had a lot of solid chances on the powerplay but I mean, if someone takes two penalties in a row and you score on the first one, you gotta score on that second one too. We had plenty of pucks at the net all night but I think we just lacked traffic in front of the net”, said Montreal Militia defenseman Ryan Vas in a post game interview.

Assistant Captain Viatcheslav Orlov thought that his team had a strong game but that they can’t always rely on one period to carry them through a game. “I think we had [plenty of] good chances but [just] lacked finish and grit. We need to be dirtier, no fancy plays, just pucks at the net and crash for rebounds. Its all about the how many.”

Overall, the Montreal Militia have not been the best team by far this season but the flashes of brilliance that they have shown (like the second period of this game) proves that they are getting better every day. This is a team that will most likely hit its peak in the playoffs and while the season is only starting to close in on the halfway point of the regular season, the Montreal Militia already has its eyes set on winning the playoffs. “Absolutely, we want to go deep in the playoffs. But at the same time, we need to get things going way before the playoffs”, Ryan Vas said. “Those last 20 games are going to be extremely important and we need to work hard to improve our game for those 20 games and show everyone just how good we are. I know we can beat any team in this league when we’re on our game and when it happens, nobody should be surprised.”



Wesley Wells' GWG

STATS


FINAL SCORE
Montreal Militia 3
Halifax Raiders 2

1ST PERIOD

No Goals

Penalties :
Viatcheslav Orlov (MTL) for Tripping (Minor) at 11:58

2ND PERIOD
1. Montreal Militia , Nolan Angello 7 (Ilmari Maatta) at 2:27 (SH)
2. Montreal Militia , Viatcheslav Orlov 2 (Keisstone Light, Nathan Russett) at 6:10
3. Halifax Raiders , Reed Laing 8 (Blake Battle) at 14:52 (SH)
4. Montreal Militia , Wesley Wells 5 (Nathan Russett, Johnny Watson) at 16:16 (PP)

Penalties :
Kristofer Hallfredsson (MTL) for Delaying the game (Minor) at 0:52, Toivo Kosonen (HAL) for Holding (Minor) at 9:56, Marcos Maciel (MTL) for Interference (Minor) at 12:32, Jean-Luc Reflieux (HAL) for High sticking (Minor) at 14:16, Matthew Shea (HAL) for Hooking (Minor) at 16:12, Matthew Shea (HAL) for Cross-checking (Minor) at 16:33, Filip Granlund (MTL) for Hooking (Minor) at 16:44, Joey Ryan (HAL) for Tripping (Minor) at 19:53

3RD PERIOD

5. Halifax Raiders , Reed Laing 9 (Alex Reed) at 0:47 (SH)

Penalties :
Kristofer Hallfredsson (MTL) for Hooking (Minor) at 6:24, Laraque Obama (MTL) for Hooking (Minor) at 18:37

Goaltender Stats:
Jeff Kirkstone (MTL), 20 saves from 22 shots - (0.909), W, 7-6-1, 60:00 minutes
Richard C. Hocolate (HAL), 23 saves from 26 shots - (0.885), L, 6-8-1, 59:59 minutes

Him Torton's 3 Stars Of The Game

1 - Reed Laing (HAL) (2G, 18:53 TOI)
2 - Viatcheslav Orlov (MTL) (1G, 18:24 TOI)
3 - Nolan Angello (MTL) (1G, 20:59 TOI)