The Red Army, for the seventh consecutive game, found a way to win last night. They were undermanned, without their starting goalie, and trailing for most of the game. They had no business in forcing overtime. They had no business in scoring in the extra session. They did both, and they got both points. With a thrilling 7-6 overtime victory over the number one seeded Cryptic Stench, Mother Russia improved her record to 7-2-1 on the season and has now clinched a winning record.
The scoring started in the first on a long offensive zone shift for the Comrades. After Mark Hendricks fired a wrist shot into the legs of one of the Stench players, momentarily stunning him, Hendricks retrieved the puck in the corner and found a streaking Ryan Odell backdoor. Odell, who scored four points on the night, made no mistake and deposited the puck five hole on Celenski.
"It was a great pass," Odell said of his first tally. "I love sneaking in backdoor. That's my bread and butter these days. Also, when I say backdoor I am not referring to anal sex, strictly in a hockey sense."
The 1-0 lead that the Comrades opened up would be short lived, and their only lead of the game until overtime. The Stench stormed back with back to back to back to back goals to end the period. All four goals, which may have been stoppable with any movement from the apathetic stand in goalie, allowed the Stench to open up a three goal lead going into the second period.
"I was just saying that the game is far from over," Hendrick said. "We were getting chances. We probably had the puck more of the period. We know Celenski is a good goalie, probably the best, and he is playing for the best team right now, so we had our work cut out for us. But we just had to keep skating and good things would happen."
The Red Army brought the game to within two early in the second when Ben Breiterman wristed one home through a screen. Celenski was upset afterward, claiming that Hendricks had impeded his path to challenge by entering his crease, but the referees, aghast by the fact that Hendricks had gone to the front of the net, allowed the goal to stand.
"I was so confused when I saw Mark go to the net," Breiterman said after the game, referring to his first goal. "Usually he hangs out back with the defense or around center somewhere, away from the play. But he was involved tonight. I'm glad my shot didn't hit him though, cause it probably would have fractured his body."
The Stench would again make the deficit three with a goal late in the second. With the score 5-2, the Soviets refused to stop their attacks though. Hendricks drew a penalty, and Mother Russia went on the powerplay. After allowing a shorthanded breakaway that was stopped, Breiterman corralled the loose puck and fired a pass to Odell, who began a two on one break the other way with Hendricks. They were unable to finish, but Odell regained the puck and fired a no angle shot on Celenski that trickled home between his leg and the post. It was 5-3 as the second period came to an end.
"We were breathing pretty heavy on the bench going into the third," Tony Horton said. Horton, who was actually prepared to suit up in goal was able to remain on offense when a goalie from another team said he would play the third period. "My job was to keep pushing the puck up and use my speed to generate chances. We all had to keep doing our jobs. If there is one thing my German heritage has taught me it is that a system is the best way to operate. Whether that is a hockey team's system, an IT system, or the systematic killing of an entire religion... they are effective. But we didn't talk just about systems on the bench, we knew they were getting tired too. We were out-shooting them and they were chasing us. We wanted to get one early."
They did.
Less than a minute into the third period Hendricks tallied his first of the game on a slick backhand that he tucked fivehole. He was able to go in alone on Celenski thanks to a persistent forecheck by the Soviets. Pat King created havoc for a defender along the boards. The defender sent an errant pass that was intercepted by Breiterman, and Breiterman sent a pass to Hendricks who had already begun streaking towards the goal. It was a true Labian effort... and it is probably fair to assume that Hoefer was the fourth man on the rink.
The next seven minutes was an all out assault by the Comrades. Pucks rang off iron, bodies flew around the crease of Celenski, and shots came in waves. But nothing went in. Midway through the period, Red Army called a time out. Their stand in goalie, needing rest for his later games, was replaced by a new, cold goalie. In those thirty seconds, the Red Army tried to warm up their new keeper. But it was to no avail. Less than a minute later, as play resumed, he was pierced on the first shot. With less than five minutes to play it was 6-4, and the Cyrptic Stench appeared to have finally put the nails in the coffin.
Resilience: an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change. (I'm an English major, I figured a definition might pump the readers up). Less than two minutes after the game seemed out of reach, Breiterman brought it back within reach when he fired another zero angle shot that dented the twine.
Two more scoreless minutes elapsed, and the final minute of the game began. Breiterman took the puck up through center and along the board to the right of Celenski. With the Stench players intent on sticking to their man, Breiterman had a one on one battle that his counterpart played terribly. Breiterman was able to fake a shot and go to his backhand, lifting a shot over the down and out Celenski, to tie the game at 6 with thirty seconds remaining.
"LAAAAAAAAAAAABIA!!!!" King yelled as he threw up his "L".
Hendricks had a chance to win the game on a semi breakaway in the final five seconds, but his shot missed top right by a few inches. He would not miss again. In the first minute of overtime, Hoefer chipped a pass out of the zone and in front of Hendricks. Celenski went to play the puck in the corner, but saw the charging Comrade. As Celenski scrambled back into his crease, Hendricks took the puck and drove to the net, stuffing it under the unprepared goaltender, and vaulting Mother Russia's Boys to arguably the most dramatic two points in franchise history. The celebration, certainly matched it, as there were more man hugs on the rink last night than in all seven seasons of Will and Grace.
"Look at that assist baby, that's all I gotta say." Hoefer said.
THREE STARS
3: Mark Hendricks
2: Ryan Odell
1: Ben Breiterman
1 comment:
What a great web log. I spend hours on the net reading blogs, about tons of various subjects. I have to first of all give praise to whoever created your theme and second of all to you for writing what i can only describe as an fabulous article. I honestly believe there is a skill to writing articles that only very few posses and honestly you got it. The combining of demonstrative and upper-class content is by all odds super rare with the astronomic amount of blogs on the cyberspace.
Post a Comment