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Julio Tokolosh · 03-05-2019, 07:17 PM

Lions Outlast Raptors in Overtime Snoozefest

Colorado Raptors vs. Lethbridge Lions Lions

Tuesday’s primetime game was the perfect storm of adequate goaltending and shots missing the net, as this game extended to overtime after a goal apiece.

First period:
Nadeau’s goaltending would be the theme of the night, and he got started early, recording four saves in the first minute of play. The Lion’s would shore up their defensive efforts and only allow 20 more shots to reach their goaltender for the rest of the game. Before the Lions battened down their hatches, Eva Lykke Aparjode took an open ice hit from Parker Smeb. The loose puck was recovered by Juulius Smonk who entered the offensive zone with Michael Scarn on an odd-man rush. The lone defenseman, Thomas Bathory, made a great effort to get his stick in the passing lane, but it wasn’t enough, as the Raptor’s second line went tick tack toe for a Michael Scarn wrist shot over the shoulder of Nadeau. It was Scarn’s fifth of the season, putting him in second on his team. As play resumed O’Koivu took a roughing penalty, and this is just about where the Raptor’s momentum would halt. The Colorado penalty kill did its job, winning multiple faceoffs, getting the puck out of the zone, and not allowing shots, but the cost was a handful of crushing hits from Baston and Eykhll.

Second Period:
The offensive chances generated by both teams were impressively poor in the second period, and it would set the tone for the rest of the game. The second period began with the Lions backpedaling and giving up seven shots, in the first four minutes, five of which would reach Nadeau. Although many were undeflected attempts from the blue line, it was enough to cement Nadeau’s rhythm, which he would keep for the remainder of the game. Things got easier on Nadeau towards the middle of the period, as the Lions absolutely shelled the Raptor’s goaltender, getting off 8 uncontested shots in under a minute, L’Eclair, Baston, Roenick, and Eykhil all contributed to the chaos. The only thing to break the trend was Smonk’s tripping penalty, which got Ushakov a well-deserved whistle, not the perfect way to solve that problem, but the Raptor’s penalty kill has been one of the most consistent units on the roster, and they held strong today and would continue to do so, killing off all four minor penalties.

Third Period:
Outside of Ja’aj Coitus-Wagg’s courageous efforts in the faceoff circle (13/19), the Lions had a heavy frozen puck advantage. Play resumed with Luffy winning the center ice drawback to Joln Dubolk, who gained a clean zone entry. A heavy minute of possession tired out the Raptor’s top line, which eventually got a change after a turnover and dump in. After a minute of neutral zone play, the Lion’s got the matchup that they were looking for. Luffy, Arsenich, and Aparjode lined up to the faceoff dot against Raptor’s rookie 4th line, Jake Peralta, Colby Weeds, and Loki Odinsson. The Raptor’s top defensive pairing of Darrow© and Watt’s made admirable efforts to block shots and get in the way of the Lion’s offense, until Luffy rebounded a shot blocked by Darrow and buried it short side, as Ushakov was still recovering from the awkward bounce off of Darrow’s torso. The Lion’s didn’t look back after that, registering 10 shots on goal in the period, while only allowing 3.

Overtime:
Sudden death overtime began with three continuous minutes of field position, dump ins, and tactical line changes until an aggressive play by Raptor’s netminder, Ushakov. After scraping up a loose puck, Ushakov attempted to spring a fast break by moving it to Raptor’s overperforming rookie, Akashi SixNine, but the aggressive breakout pass was intercepted by Luffy in the neutral zone, where the Lions easily advanced and cycled the puck, getting three shots off (1 on net) before the Raptors were able to freeze the puck and get a reset. The Lions set play would prove fatal for the Raptors, after Aparjode won the faceoff back to Luffy, who advanced down the right boards, skip passed back to Aparjode at the top who toe-dragged as Luffy got into position to set the screen. Aparjode released a snap shot as Ushakov went to switch sides around Luffy’s screen, but was unable to make a play on the deftly tipped puck the wobbled in over his lowered glove. Eric Vanderberg shoved Luffy after the play and Jules Watt made an appeal to the unnamed referee for goalie interference, but it was shaken off. A good goal on the ice. Game winning goal, awarded to Monkey D. Luffy, assisted by Eva Lykke Aparjode.

Final score
Lions

2 - 1 (OT)

The three stars of the game were:
1 - Monkey D. Luffy Lions

- a heroic effort with 2 goals and 5 shots on net, and was on the ice for all of the Lion’s action
2 - Michael Scarn Raptors

- played a balanced game, with his team’s only goal, and tied for the lead in hits.
3 - Patrice Nadeau Lions

- played a solid game with a 95.8% percentage.

Julio's secret star of the game:
Ja'aj Coitus-Wagg - for understated play and success in the faceoff dot.

Julio's chocolate star of the game:
Julio Tokolosh - for registering 4 shots and no other statistics, in a show of cowardice and lack of grit.

Fluw · 03-05-2019, 09:48 PM

PeanutButter · 03-11-2019, 08:54 PM

Three Stars of the Game: Their Stories

1 - Monkey D. Luffy Lions

Monkey D. Luffy was the clutch player of the game, scoring the tying goal of the third period (knotting the score up at 1-1) and then coming through in overtime with one of the best individual efforts we have ever seen! His shot was so powerful it broke the netting! His two goals were the only ones Lethbridge scored in the game, too.

2 - Michael Scarn Raptors

Michael Scarn was the only positive factor for the Colorado Raptors, unfortunately. He scored their only goal in the first period, giving the Raptors the lead for most of the game.

3 - Patrice Nadeau Lions

Patrice Nadeau was the dominant goaltender of this matchup, stopping 23 of the 24 shots that he faced, ending with a .958 save percentage. Imagine if he was able to manage that kind of play through the whole season! Nothing would be able to stop him!

Borůvka Banananák: He Kinda Sucks

There isn't much to say about the second round draft pick, other than the fact he doesn't do freaking anything on the ice. Most nights he is either lounging around on the bench or he is skating around the ice acting useless and dumb. Let's check out his contributions for this game:

8:38 of 1st period - Shot by Boruvka Banananak.
8:38 of 1st period - Stopped by Yuri Ushakov without a rebound.

16:02 of 1st period - Boruvka Banananak is hit by Cassius Darrow and loses puck.
16:10 of 1st period - Boruvka Banananak is hit by Cassius Darrow and loses puck.

7:45 of 2nd period - Shot by Jules L'Eclair.
7:45 of 2nd period - Deflect By Boruvka Banananak.
7:45 of 2nd period - Stopped by Yuri Ushakov with a rebound.

2:08 of 3rd period - Shot by Boruvka Banananak.
2:08 of 3rd period - Deflect By Jules L'Eclair.
2:08 of 3rd period - Shot Misses the Net.

10:23 of 3rd period - Shot by Boruvka Banananak.
10:23 of 3rd period - Shot Misses the Net.

Seriously, what the hell is that? The most notable thing that he did was getting hit and knocked off the puck twice in the span of 8 seconds, and that was notable for all the wrong reasons. Maybe there is a reason this guy was picked so late in the draft, and maybe he shouldn't be so mad about things.

Colorado and Lethbridge: One of the Nicest Sportsmanlike Games Ever

Most of the games in the junior leagues has a lot of tenacity. There are fights, hits, and most of all, penalties. However, this game was the opposite of that. The first period had one penalty, with Anastasia O'Koivu going to the box for roughing (which was one of the weakest roughs in the history of the game), then in the second period there were two tripping penalties. Both of them were from Colorado, but were also accidental. The third period featured two penalties, and both were very unfortunate circumstances. First it was Parker Smeb for hooking (and he was way out of position so it makes sense). Then it was Jay Boom'Boom, and there was no real boom boom in that play because it was only a high-sticking call. Not much to speak of in terms of tenacity.

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