Yesterday (Saturday) we played a team we have
not been able to beat. Today (Sunday)
it’s the opposite. Our game today is
against the Brantford 99’s. The 99 Chiefs have owned Brantford through the years and sport a
record of 7 wins against only 1 loss. If
you count last season’s playoff final that would make it 10 wins with the only loss coming way back in the Minor
Atom year. Would this hold true today?
Spoiler alert: Hope you didn’t read the headline
Perhaps due to the new music selections, but the first period was, once again, a little ragged. Defensively, we played well. Unlike Sunday when Hamilton controlled the play in our zone for lengthy stretches, we were in control in the defensive zone and not chasing the puck. However, we were also not able to generate much ourselves. We had one powerplay but it proved to be somewhat of a momentum killer.
The second period continued as what has been a bit of a theme, we were improving as the game went on. Unfortunately, this improvement did not account for any goals. We hit yet another post as Riley C. pinched in from the blueline and received a nice cross-ice pass (sorry, I can’t recall who the setup guy was) but he was unable score. His shot hit the post and the ensuing scramble almost led to a goal but it was not to be.
There was no scoring in the second, and that makes 6 consecutive periods with no goals for. Somehow we need to figure out how to bury some of these chances.
Early in the third we were given a second powerplay opportunity as D’arcy P. led a rush up ice but was interfered with by the 99 defenseman. On the ensuing powerplay (yes, I made it a priority to use “ensuing” twice in this article as I don’t think that word gets enough love) the face-off was won and the puck went back to Donovan C. on the right point. He simply wristed one past the defenders and for some strange reason, D’arcy found himself all alone in front with, what appeared to be hours of free time. As anyone familiar with this team would know, D’arcy has soft hands, the patience of Job, and can dangle with the best of them. Give him this much time alone and you can expect the red light to come on. D’arcy did not disappoint as he went left, then quickly back to his right and backhanded it into the open side of the net.
At this point, it seemed that the game would end 1-0 as the Chiefs were playing well defensively and had Carter playing solid in the net. I should have known better than to think this, though, as a turnover in the Chiefs zone led to the tying goal with just over 4 minutes remaining. I’m not certain how this happened, but it must have been deflating.
So the coaches turned to the crash line – Max, Max and Curtis and they did what they do best. Got the puck deep, cycled, intimidated, forced a few turnovers and this led to a poor clearing attempt kept in at the line by Brady R. His shot, got through to Max G – who also has soft hands and can score with the best of them. This time, however, Max had it deflect off his backside as he was being harassed in front of the 99 goal. Turns out, it was a fortuitous (and perfect) deflection past the goaltender and the 1 goal lead was restored with just over 1 minute remaining.
The Chiefs managed to hang on in the dying seconds and snap the 2 game losing streak with a big 2-1 victory over the ever-improving Brantford squad.