Drew and his Riverview Ice Sharks teammates took on the combined
Mitchell-East Lake team tonight. Drew found himself back on the
defensive end of the ice tonight, something that he hasn't really
done much of in recent times. I'm not sure if this will be a
"permanent" change, or if this was because the defense was
shorthanded tonight. Either way, he held his own back there tonight,
and found himself on the ice for a lot more shifts than usual.
Things got off to a bit of a slow start for the Ice Sharks, as they
got an early power play opportunity but failed to take advantage in
any way - the only shot during the man-advantage came off of the
stick on the Mitchell-East Lake player on the Ice Sharks net. In
fact, six of the first nine shots came courtesy of the Mitchell-East
Lake team. Riverview finally got rolling with a wrist shot from the
slot that found the back of the net on their fourth shot of the game
with just 5:20 remaining in the period. That one shot seemed to wake
up the Riverview skaters, as they would score goals on their next
two shots, making it a 3-0 game in what felt like the blink of an
eye (in reality it took two minutes of game time, but it was a quick
scoring outburst for the Ice Sharks!). The middle goal was a shot
that was allowed in through the five-hole of the Mitchell-East Lake
goaltender. The third goal came on a rebound that the Mitchell-East
Lake goaltender couldn't quite corral. That would be it for scoring
in the period, as the Ice Sharks would take the 3-0 lead into the
intermission.
Riverview continued their hot streak at the opening of the second
period, as they took a nice pass that sailed through the crease and
were able to tap it into the back of the net to make it a 4-0 lead
after just under two minutes had elapsed. A little over 30 seconds
later they would make it 5-0, this time on a shot that got tipped in
up and over the Mitchell-East Lake goaltender. It took a couple more
minutes, but with eight and half minutes left the Mitchell-East Lake
squad got the break they needed, as the Ice Sharks decided to play
some "Olé defense", waving at the
attacking player as he weaved his way through for a semi-breakaway
that left the Riverview goaltender hung out to dry, making it a 5-1
game. Riverview killed off their only penalty of the period, but
back-to-back Mitchell-East Lake penalties came back to bite them, as
they wound up giving the Ice Sharks a 5-on-3 advantage that they
wound up taking advantage up late in the period. With less than a
minute remaining, the Ice Sharks scored their third goal of the
period (and sixth of the game) on a tipped shot that went between
the goaltenders legs, making it a 6-1 lead. While the power play
went on, a couple of saves from the Mitchell-East Lake netminder
kept the score from being worse as the two teams went into the final
intermission.
The third period was a lot like the second. Riverview got on the
board early, scoring not even two minutes in on another tipped pass
that went under the goaltenders pads. Forty seconds later they
struck again, on another tipped shot that wound up in the back of
the net, this time giving the Ice Sharks scorer a hat trick and the
team an 8-1 lead. With just under four minutes remaining Drew would
draw and interference penalty, and he didn't find himself in the box
for long, as the Mitchell-East Lake team fired off a wrist shot that
went under the Riverview goaltenders pads, making it an 8-2 game.
With just over 90 seconds remaining, the Ice Sharks finished off the
scoring, netting a backhander off of a rebound that the
Mitchell-East Lake goalie just couldn't control (a theme this
evening). That would be it for the game, as the final whistle would
blow with the Ice Sharks securing a 9-2 victory. |