The
first post-season contest for the Delivery Guys Husky Bantam LL3 promised to be
a good one and judging from the results, it was. The Dogs played host to the
Paris LL2 Wolf Pack on February 9 and had their game faces on as the fast-paced
and physical contest got underway.
Paris was first on the scoreboard when the Huskies were cited for an early roughing penalty. Liam Saunders stood his ground in net at the half when the Wolf Pack executed a breakaway that would have left the Huskies down by two. His actions rallied his team to turn it around. Good fore-checking in the forward zone by Mike Thrush paid off when he won the puck, centered it to Trevor Brubacher who then plowed it in to tie the match. It was more tough physical play in the second but the Dogs were giving better than they got. Brubacher, working hard down low, imitated Thrush and fed the puck into the slot where Cam Gingerich made no mistake. Paris tried to rally on another Husky penalty and would have tied the game on another drive but Saunders was sharp. Returning to full strength, Colin Shannon broke the puck out of the defensive zone, feeding it to Gingerich as he raced for the Paris net. His cross-ice pass to Justin Arnott was on the tape and delivered home to secure a two-goal lead. The Dogs were firing on all cylinders and would pot one more before the period ended. Jake Snider, winning a puck battle, fed Arnott who in turn set up Gingerich who popped it in on the short side. The 3-goal lead was enough for the opposition to wake up and redouble their efforts. Their chance came when the Huskies were once again a man short for slashing. The Paris forward wearing number 15 scored his second goal on another breakaway, before the Husky defense shut him down. Colton Hussey demonstrated the proper methods of checking ambitious Paris attackers and defensive team mates Tyler Szanto, Connor Ross and Shannon followed suite. It would be the last Paris goal but not the last Husky goal. Kolton Wagler, skating hard into the offensive zone, fed Snider who then sniped it into the rigging to re-establish the 3-goal lead. The last gasps for Paris were expertly handled by Saunders, allowing the Dogs to take the 5 – 2 win. Arnott got player-of-the-game recognition for his outstanding efforts, getting the go-ahead goal and helping his team take an early series lead. The Huskies hope to continue the successes when they visit the Tavistock Titans on February 16.