Mar 07, 2020 | Scott Price | 917 views
Atom LL IceDogs Battle Hard in OT Loss!
The Atom LL #1 IceDogs made the short trip to Dodge City for a playoff showdown against TCDMHA Rebels. The two teams had battled in OT on Thursday with the IceDogs getting the win on a crazy bounce.
With Coach Bill on a plane to California, Coach Steve had the troops fired up for this one. The IceDogs knew it wouldn't be easy and were ready from the opening face-off.
In true playoff fashion, the two teams battled hard in the opening minutes with tight checking at both ends of the rink. Cohen H. of the Rebels would draw first blood to put his club up 1-0 and despite some close calls, that was the score after one period of play.
The 2nd period started with Owen W. collecting the puck in his own end and delivering a little mustard sauce pass to Aden M. on the fly. Aden would bust into the Rebel zone and go top shelf to get the IceDogs and Rebels even at ones. Red hot Cohen H. would get that one back though with a hard working goal and the score was 2-1 Rebels at the 2nd buzzer.
These two teams are so even that just that little extra effort or one little mistake can make all the difference and that was how the 3rd period played out. The Rebels would go up by 2 and then a missed tripping call caused a turnover that put the Rebels up 4-1 after 5 minutes of play in the 3rd. You might have expected the IceDogs to think it just wasn't their day but instead, they turned up the heat. Some big time saves by Lucas B. would keep the score close and Aden M. would ring one off the cross bar (I am pretty sure it was in!) but that lit a fire under the 'Dogs. Owen W. would get one back with after some hard work by Aden M. and Maddison H to get the puck to the front of the net. Next, Braden N would pinch at the blue line and drive the net, putting the puck home to get the IceDogs within one. A couple of injuries had the IceDogs getting a breather and looking to maybe pull Lucas in favour of the extra attacker. After a couple of near misses, Owen W. would drive one home with 1:19 left to play and we were all tied up at 4's! The IceDogs had roared back from a 4-1 deficit and we were headed to Overtime!
Hockey is a game of capitalizing on your chances and things have a way of evening out over time. The IceDogs had won on a fortunate bounce last game and today it was the Rebels turn. What could have been a terrific pass took a fortuitous bounce off a Rebel shin pad and they raced down the ice on the turnover. Lucas would make the initial save but the hard-skating Rebel rushed the net hard and the puck squirted loose to a hard-charging Macaulay M. of the Rebels. Macaulay made no mistake and the Rebels were 5-4 winners in OT.
The Rebel win tightens up the standings in the Round Robin play and it was a great display of hard-work and skill in Desboro this morning. These two teams might have a date with destiny if they can win their next couple of games and meet in the Finals in the coming weeks. Thanks for letting me be a part of it IceDogs! I enjoyed it more than you can know!