FIRST CAREER GOAL ALERT
Getting the first goal of your career is always special, but knowing you played an integral part in making it might just make it even more so. After an interference penalty called on rookie Raiders defenceman Perry Morgan the Detroit Falcons went right to work on the ensuing powerplay. Rookie centerman Raino Kyllönen won the draw cleanly back to Donnie Dicks and the Halifax Raiders wouldn’t touch the puck again until they were fishing it out of their net.

After moving the puck quickly on the PP Donnie Dicks took a shot that missed the net, Raino Kyllönen was first to react, retrieving the puck and taking a shot of his own that missed the net again! Unfortunately for the Raiders, their penalty killers were caught puck watching, as Kyllönen retrieved the puck yet again, managing to tuck it in past goaltender Mike McKorsy for his first SMJHL goal! The Falcons flooded into the corner to celebrate with the young Finn.




SPECIAL TEAMS - GOOD OR BAD?
One interesting stat from the game that will instantly jump out at anyone are how the special teams performed in this contest. Incredible, both teams converted on their powerplay chances at a solid 50%, though of course this means that both penalty kills also let up a goal at a 50% rate as well.

Halifax converted on 2 of their 4 power plays during the game, whilst Detroit converted on 3 of their 6. The majority of these PP opportunities game in the second period, and you can be certain that both coaches preached discipline during the 2nd intermission, with the 3rd period only seeing one penalty called through the final frame.


CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR
This contest saw the Detroit Falcons jump to a 5-1 lead in the 2nd period, just minutes after chasing Raiders goaltender Mike McKorsy from the crease early in the period. From then on however, one could make the argument that the Falcons let their foot off the gas, and for that, they were almost run over.

The Halifax Raiders showed great resilience to fight back against the soaring Falcons, with goals from Mikael Choybuk and Jimmy Slothface in the 2nd period to close the gap to two, before Kristers Dzelme added the Raiders fourth in the 3rd, to bring the score to 5-4. It wasn’t enough, however, as the veterans amongst the young Falcons team took the game by the scruff of its neck, dominating the latter half of the period following a quick flurry of missed shots by the Raiders to close out the game.