Drew and his Novi FireCats teammates took to the ice for the
final regular season game of the season tonight, taking on the
Plymouth Stingrays at home. Although the boys were fired up and
ready to play, it seemed as though they weren't just playing against
the Stingrays - the referees seemed to have it our for them as well.
Plymouth scored first, getting on the board just before the halfway
mark of the period. They would open the lead further with a
breakaway goal just 19 seconds later. It was at this point that
things headed south for the FireCats, as the referees began calling
penalty after penalty on them, most of which were very iffy calls.
At one point the FireCats had three players in the box at the same
time. Somehow they killed off the penalties and hung on to stay
within two goals after the end of the period.
Despite trying to climb back in to the game, it was Plymouth
scoring the first goal of the period, just 2:40 in. The FireCats
tightened up the defense for the rest of the period, holding
Plymouth at bay. After killing off yet another penalty, the second
period would come to an end with the FireCats trailing by three.
It didn't take long in the third for the FireCats hard work to
finally pay off, scoring their first goal of the game just under
three minutes in. The FireCats finally got a break with the whistle,
as they would score a power play goal less than 20 seconds after
their first goal, narrowing the gap to 3-2. After killing off
another penalty, the FireCats would once again find themselves on a
power play. They would take advantage of having an extra man on the
ice, scoring the game at 3 each just past the midway point of the
period. Time kept ticking, and the FireCats kept attacking. They
would grab their first goal of the game with a big slap shot goal
with just two minutes remaining. After pulling the goalie, the
Stingrays would end up taking a penalty that negated their
advantage. They kept the goalie off the ice, and that gave the
FireCats the opportunity they would need to ice away the game with
an empty net goal.
What a comeback tonight for the FireCats! Trailing 3-0 with time
ticking off the clock in the final period, they would score five
unanswered goals to walk away with a 5-3 victory! Way to go
FireCats! |