Letter of Marque
Running Away With The Victory
Article written by french sport journalist Evok
S35G38

<div align="center">St. Louis Scarecrows 4 || Halifax Raiders 5</div>

After their disappointing game against the Mammoths in Colorado, the Raiders headed home. They didn’t had time to stay affected by this defeat as they would face the St. Louis Scarecrow the same day. They had a quick morning skate, a few video reviews and a good dinner before the game.

The tone of the game was given early in the first, when Seth Paige received a penalty for slashing 3 minutes into the game. With the power play unit of the Raiders on the ice, the Scarecrows had to be careful to not give them too much space. They managed to kill the penalty, but Paige jumped on the ice just in time to see Cody Fletcher score on Jimmy Wagner from the left faceoff circle. St. Louis was quick to reply however as exactly a minute later, it was John Langabeer who managed to beat Jordin FourFour Jr. right under the blocker. Soon after this goal, Trucker Grogan forced the Raiders to put the penalty kill unit on the ice when he was punished for hooking. They managed to keep the Scarecrows at bay during the following 2 minutes. The team went back and forth the ice during the next minutes, but the Raiders managed to gain back the lead when Yuri Boyka Jr. pushed the puck behind St. Louis goaltender. Right before the end of the period, Louie Garrett received a bad penalty call when he was punished for hooking.

During the first minute and a half of the second period, the Scarecrows were now on a man disadvantage. Fortunately, they were able to keep the Raiders away during that time. A minute after the penalty was over, Grogan received his second penalty of the night for the same reason, hooking, and made his way to the sin bin. FourFour Jr. stayed strong in his net when the Scarecrows attack launched an onslaught on him during that time. Despite losing the momentum, Boyka Jr. was quick to regain it when he caught a loose puck and skated as fast as he could toward Wagner. He managed to outplay him and scored his second of the night. The two teams reached the middle of the ice to take the following face off. Barely a few second after the game started, Dwayne Wyder accidentally sent the puck out of the playing area and was discerned a delay of game penalty. At the same time they stopped the game for this penalty, Paige decided to give a rough shove to one of the Raiders’ player and was also punished for it. No team managed to score on the following 4 v 4. Around 11 minutes into the second period, Crossfit Jesus was caught by the official after a slash and made his way to the penalty box. Once again, the penalty kill of the Scarecrows managed to keep the Raiders away from their net. Redeeming himself his bad penalty, Jesus managed to score on FourFour Jr. with a minute and a half remaining in the period.

It was not the case of Langabeer at the start of the last leg of the game. After receiving a penalty for high sticking, he was forced to watch from the sin bin Fletcher scores his second of the night and chasing Wagner of the game. Langabeer got out of the penalty box at the same time as Dominik Tretiak took place in St. Louis crease. It wasn’t long for the Raiders to welcome him. Three minutes later, Chuck Bernstein managed to beat the unprepared goaltender but shooting the puck in the 5th hole. Following that play, the Scarecrow were once again in a man disadvantage when Garrett received a penalty for slashing. This time, however, the Raiders weren’t able to capitalize on it. The play turned in favor of the Scarecrow after this penalty. At the mid period mark, Matthew Auston managed to fool Halifax’s netminder and reduced the goals gap. Five minutes later, it was Cameron Dubois’ turn to score and St. Louis now only had one more goal to obtain. However, their chances were reduced to almost zero when Langabeer received yet another bad penalty for hooking with only 2 minutes and a half remaining in the period. After keeping the Scarecrows deep into their zone for the remaining of the game, the Raiders were now able to taste victory once again in front of their fan.

The unsung hero of the match for the Raiders was Lukas Müller. He had 23 minutes on the ice during the game. He recorded two assists and tested the other team netminder 2 times. He also had one hit and blocked two pucks directed to the Raiders’ net.