ST. LOUIS SCARECROWS VS. KELOWNA KNIGHTS 

2 - 4

Tonight we look at two teams on the opposite side of the Standings, St. Louis Scarecrows versus Kelowna Knights.

The Knights are coming into this game at the top of the standings looking to change their two game win streak to 3. St. Louis is looking to build off a 3-2 win over Halifax and finally get going this season.

Starting things off in the first period, we see the Crows score early at 1:11. Goal came from Goku Muerto after Jack Daniels' shot hit the post and bounced right to his stick. The rest of the period would see good hockey played by both teams. At 15:27, the Knights take a double minor for roughing when Knights' defenseman Darren McCarty decides to take 2 Scarecrows out after the whistle.

Kelowna's PK unit did alright for most of the time, but were unable to stop a shot from Jack Daniels at 18:29.

The period would end with St. Louis leading Kelowna 2-0.

Shots for the period are, 7 - 9 in favor of Kelowna.

Building off the momentum from the first, St Louis comes out strong taking a lot of shots early, but unable to beat Knights' goalie Kata Vilde. With another power play opportunity at 2:19, the Scarecrows are unable to convert and find themselves loses battles all around the ice. With 0:21 seconds after the power play, Kelowna answers. At 4:40, Cash Savage has his shot blocked by Lil Manius, but is able to recover the puck for a second chance which he buries behind Crows' tender Friedrich Schmidt. Deku Izuku is called for Slashing at 6:42 and Kolowna is once again down a man. St. Louis is still not able to get passed Vilde and the frustration starts to sink in. At 10:26 Daniel Karlsson gets called for hooking and St. Louis goes down a man for the first time tonight. Unable to score on Schmidt, Kelowna keeps the pressure up and ties the game up at 14:55, when Daddy Mack deflects Michael O'Dowd's shot. The Knights have tied the game up and the whole game has shifted.

The Period Ends with a tie at 2-2.

Shots for the Period are 13 - 10 favoring St. Louis

With the game tied at two a piece, both teams needed to play top notch hockey to beat the other. With Jack Dekens getting called for Holding at 0:24, the Crows get the early advantage. Unfortunately for the Crows, they are unsuccessful on their early man advantage. Fenton Uriel of Kelowna is able to scores at 2:25, 1 second after their PK ended. This really demoralized the St. Louis bench. Their PP unit could not control the puck and allowed this opportunity to blossom. Again, St. Louis would find themselves on the power play, eager to show they are not out of the game yet, when Xaiver Paquette is called for holding 3:37. They played on the heels throughout most of the time, but managed to let off 2 shots, both missing the net wide. Things start tilting when Goku Muerto is called for roughing at 7:45. Kelowna's O'Dowd wins the faceoff against Jack Daniels, getting the puck to winger Ryan Gardiner who slaps it right past Schmidt at 7:47, for a power play goal. St. Louis would now get another chance at 8:43 when Matej Elias is called for Slashing, but once again cannot beat Vilde. With half the third gone, St. Louis' team seems deflated but manage to keep Kelowna from adding to their lead. With two more penalties coming from Jack Daniels at 12:13 and Deku Izuku at 15:33, neither team would produce any more goals.

The Period would end with Kelowna winning 4-2.

Shots for the period are 3 - 5 favoring Kelowna.

Friedrich Schmidt, Saves 20/24 (0.833)

Kata Vilde, Saves 21/23 (0.913)

1 - Fenton Uriel

2 - Daddy Mack

     3 - Michael O'Dowd

While St. Louis came out strong, Kelowna was able to hit their stride later in the game. Kelowna extends their winning streak to 3. The Knights were making the most of their chances and not letting the pressure from taking a lot of penalties affect them. St. Louis needs to work on their special teams, as they had 8 chances with the man advantage and only able to convert once. I look forward to the next match up between these teams to see if they can battle it out again.

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