With just 3 games remaining in regular season, the
New Hamburg Huskies Midget LL3s were looking for a win at home against the
Tavistock Titans on January 7 to lock up an A-pool berth in the post season.
The Dogs hit the ice running and their guests soon found themselves in penalty trouble due to the hard fore-checking. Owen Ross executed a clean breakout to Luke Aikman who rushed the forward zone and slammed one off the goalie pads on a wraparound attempt. Gavin Banwell, riding high in the slot, made no mistake on the rebound and tallied the first point on the power-play. Chances followed with both Alex Wagler and Nathan Gerber putting pucks on the net but the Tavi goalie proved resilient. The dam would break early in second period when the Huskies found the net twice in quick succession. Gerber got the puck deep and his centering pass found Thomas Black in front. His deflection went to Colin Shannon who rushed in and stuffed it between the pad and post to register the second Husky point. The next shift saw Banwell and Aikman tag-teaming with the next pass going to the point where Ross teed it up. The shot would have gone wide were it not for a Tavistock defender redirecting it past his own goalie giving the Dogs a 3-point lead. The pressure was relentless and the guests were made to suffer another goal against when Mike Thrush forced the play up the boards and centered the puck to Black hovering in front. He tipped it over to Dylan Hempey who blasted a perfect shot over the goalies shoulder to make it a 4-goal game. It all seemed too easy but Tavistock turned the tables in the third forcing Carter Schwartzentruber to dig in between the pipes. Three consecutive saves, one of which was a breakaway attempt, almost frustrated the visitors but they got lucky on a deflection before the Dogs regained the offensive spirit. With the clock winding down, the Titans pulled their goalie to try and capitalize on a power-play. It might have worked were it not for Ross winning a 2 on 1 battle along the boards and passing the puck out to Aikman who was dashing into the clear. He secured the empty-netter and finalized the 5 – 1 win for the LL3s. With an A-pool berth in the bag, the Huskies hope to conclude regular season with 2 more wins as they prepare for the play-offs.