Shots, Shots, Shots

It seems as though the message before the game from the Anaheim Outlaws side was to throw pucks on net. After seeing that Alexander Andersson-Grande wasn’t having the best statistical season of his career (3.52 GAA, 0.872 save%), the Outlaws wanted to get at him early and often. They out shot the Knights in the first period 8-1 and then in the second period, 17-8. They finished the game out shooting the Knights 32-19. The Outlaws fourth line, who are known for their defensive efforts, had 5 shots on net. The Outlaws came into the game with a game plan, stuck to that game plan, and it eventually worked out in their favour.

Three Stars of the Game

All three stars for this game went to the Anaheim Outlaws. The first star of the game, Slap McShotty, scored the opening goal of the game and had a power play assist in the second period. He finished with a +1, 2 hits, 3 shots on goal and 6/9 in the faceoff dot. The second star of the game, Collin Gibbles, had an assist early in the second period and later scored on the power play. He finished with 2 shots on goal and 1 hit in just over 22 minutes of ice-time. The third star of the game, Seemu Telanne, scored in the third period to give the Outlaws a commanding 4-1 lead with just over 7 minutes left in the game. He finished with a +1 and 2 shots on net.

Secondary Help

When you look at the Anaheim Outlaws’ season as a whole, you can see a discrepancy in the total points between the first two lines and the bottom two lines. The first two lines are played much more often and have a ton of opportunities to score whereas the bottom two lines are played much less and are focused on their defensive side of the game. But today was a different story. The third line was able to produce offensively as Slap McShotty had a goal and an assist and Yoshimitsu McCloud had an assist in just over 13 minutes of ice-time each. Even more impressive was the fourth line as Seemu Telanne had a goal, Nick Connolly pinched in with an assist and Chuck Goody III was impressive in the face-off dot, all playing less than 9 minutes. Very important for their big victory today.