Thank you Sir, May I have another....9-1 loss.
For the second game in a row (Lakewood team), we have been shellacked. :rip_1:
Once again, we had 9 skaters, 6f, 3d. My stamina was holding up pretty good until the 3rd period. The other two D consisted of our older teammate, and a new guy that hasn't skated since the shut-down, so he was hurting...but definitely was solid. I skated most of the 1st period, with only two line changes, with maybe 30 seconds to 1 minute of rest. We held them to only two goals in the first period, but the second period is when the flood gates opened. They had 13 skaters, and I finally figured out why they were able to consistently get behind me, their legs were fresh! So many goals we gave up were a result of us turning it over on the breakout as we entered the neutral zone and then they would just beat us around the outside. I was starting to get frustrated at myself, because I thought I was playing good D, forcing them wide, and/or knocking the puck off their sticks, but they just seemed to come in waves. Picking up the loose puck and then getting a shot, with a rebound, and then knocking the rebounds in. I just didn't have the extra bursts that were needed to get to those loose pucks around the net more times than not.
A highlight was in the second period where I told our right winger that if our center won the draw back to me (our zone, left face-off dot) I would rim it around behind our net to him. Well, the planets aligned, we won the draw and I rimmed the puck around to him, in which he picked it up right before our blue line, proceeded to dipsy-doodle his way into their zone and scored! Woohoo! I also had a few rushes that led to some good looks for me, as well as a bunch of shots from our point. I also felt more comfortable pinching since we were playing on the smaller rink, and that allowed me to intercept some breakout passes because their wingers were looking back at their D (for the pass) and not seeing where I was. This happened a few times and I was able to get some great shots off, but their Ben Bishop'esque goalie was on fire, and huge!
All in all, it sucked getting blown out. But we all felt better about how the game went. I was happy with how much offense I was able to contribute this time around. Hoping next game we have a full 10, and can get proper rest in between shifts!
No game this weekend for my EastWest team.