After what seemed like an eternity, the Timber hit the ice for our first regular season game today.  We came away with a big 4-1 win over Anaheim, thanks to some timely goalscoring and fantastic goalkeeping by Bigga Foryu.  

Game 1

• Maine Timber 4
  
• Anaheim Outlaws 1
  
• POTG: G Bigga Foryu - 39 saves, 1 goal allowed, .975 save percentage
  

First Period
We came out aggressively this game and it paid big dividends in the early stages. After firing five shots on goal in the first few minutes, center Konrad Danke found the back of the net with just over 15:00 left in the first period.  Anaheim countered with some great defense for the next 10 minutes, holding us to just an additional four shots on goal, while upping their total to nine.  Foryu had gotten us out of more than one jam already as we aimed to head to the first intermission with the lead.  The final handful of minutes in the first didn't see much action at all as the two teams were still feeling each other out in the season opener.  We headed to the second period with a 1-0 lead and a 12-9 advantage in shots on goal.

Second Period
Like the opening period, it didn't take us long to get on the scoreboard here in the second.  Just 90 seconds in, Nathan Thomas fired a laser that beat Anaheim's Jack Lewis, thanks to an assist from Rikard Bjerg and myself.  We knew that we wouldn't be satisfied with two goals and wanted to break the game open if we could.  That strategy worked perfectly as we added our third goal of the game less then three minutes later.  This time it was Victor Ball on the scoring end, giving us three different scorers for our trio of goals.  With their backs against the wall, the Outlaws went all out on offense for the remainder of the second period and they were rewarded for their efforts.  After taking a sizable shots on goal lead, they notched their first goal of the season with 1:19 left in the period.  Long John Donair launched a perfectly placed shot that was just out of reach of Foryu and Anaheim suddenly had life.  That was the end of the second period scoring, however, as we entered the final 20 minutes with a 3-1 lead and a 25-16 deficit in shots on goal. 

Third Period
With just 20 minutes left to overcome their two-goal deficit, we knew Anaheim would have to sacrifice some defense for offense in an attempt to make a comeback.  They came out firing with six quick shots on goal in the first six minutes, but we were able to weather that storm and put the game out of reach on a counterattack.  With just over 14:00 left in the game, Jesse Seppanen was the recipient of some perfect passing from Puddles O'Duck and Alexander Oscarsson and beat Jack Lewis for our fourth goal of the day.  That gave us a 4-1 lead and we knew that barring a collapse, we'd start the season off with a victory.  We were able to keep the pressure up the rest of the game, despite a flurry of shots from a desperate Outlaws team.  There was no further scoring following Seppanen's wrister and we were able to take the season opener 4-1, despite being out-shot 40-27.  Huge props to Foryu for standing on his head in this one.

Goals
 Konrad Danke (Rikard Bjerg)
 Nathan Thomas (Rikard Bjerg, Dogwood Maple)
 Victor Ball (Alexander Oscarsson, Walton Stromberg)
 Long John Donair (Ryu Jones, Hubert Andrews)
 Jesse Seppanen (Puddles O'Duck, Alexander Oscarsson)

Goalie stats:
 Bigga Foryu - 39 saves, 1 goal allowed, .975 save percentage
 Jack Lewis - 23 saves, 4 goals allowed, .852 save percentage

(639 words)

Approved, +5 TPE @dogwoodmaple