Stop me if you've heard this before: The Soviets entered the third period on Tuesday trailing on the scoreboard, but thanks to solid defensive play, a phenomenal final frame by Andy Schram, and an offensive clinic headed by Hendricks and friends, the Red Army came back to tie it then win it in regulation, leap frogging another team in the standings.
Oh, I'm repeating myself?
Yes, during this winning streak, now 5 games long, it seems that every post game article could be copy and pasted with the only necessary edit being the changing of opponent's names. As bizarre, unstable, and heart-palpitation-inducing it is, the Red Army seems to have found their recipe for success: Hang around, stay within striking distance, then play their collective asses off in the third period to steal the game. It defies logic, that a team could make a habit of late comebacks and routinely come out on top, but it's happening. And if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?
Tuesday's tilt with the Grenades started slowly for the Comrades, as it not only seemed that the winning streak would end, but that the slaughter rule would need to be applied. The Grenades struck early and often, vaulting to a 4-0 lead before the game was ten minutes old. The players, especially Schram, were not happy.
"I knew I didn't have my best period in the first," Schram said. "Sometimes pucks squeak by and find holes, but I'm glad the offense rallied. We just needed more shots. Shots, shots, shots, shots.... shots!"
The shots, and consequent goals, came from the stick of the maestro orchestrating the offense, Mark Hendricks. The winger scored a natural hat trick in the final five minutes of the first period to close the gap to one. His goals varied in style but were constant in that he simply threw it on net.
"I can yell at the guys on the bench about shots all I want," Hendricks said as he pulled his reffing jersey over his head. "But if I'm a leader on this team and they see me dipsy doo, dangle mcstrangle, whoop there it is, hop on the train next stop funky town, toe drag queen, to backhand fiddler on the roof top cheesy gordita crunch, then they aren't going to shoot either. Sure sometimes there's a pass open, but throw it on the net and good things happen."
Good things did happen at the end of that period, things that won't show up on the scoresheet. On two of Hendricks goals, ones coming from his patented wrist shot, Steve Hand and Pat King set screens on the goalie. If a goalie is more worried about who is in his crease than who has the puck, more often than not there are going to be fist pumps on the Soviet bench in a matter of seconds.
"When you're as big as I am," Tony Horton said, "it's tough for goalies to see around me when I go to the net. It's also tough for them to look their wives in the eyes because they know they will never be as much man as me."
Whatever momentum people thought would carry over into the second period must have been lost during the one minute intermission. The Grenades were the only team to strike in the middle frame, beating Schram twice to take a 6-3 lead into the third.
"We weren't happy with our play at all," Scott Hoefer said about his team's second period play. "But instead of getting mad and reflecting on missed plays, we talked about what we had to do to dig our way out of the hole. I did not intend to lose this game. I don't lose games anymore, I gave it up for Lent". Hoefer, who is a licensed Minister in the state of Virginia then blessed his Fruit Punch Gatorade, turning into Holy Water Propel.
Hendricks continued to be a scoring machine in the third, blasting a one timer home early in the period to close the deficit to two. Ben Breiterman fed the goal scorer on a long pass from center. Hendricks, realizing the goalie would not be expecting a shot from long range, one timed the shot from just inside the blue line and, despite King's claims, connected on the one timer. The puck hit the back of the net before the goalie could scramble to his post.
"It was a decent shot," Breiterman said. "But the real play was that assist. That tape to tape pass? That's how babies are born."
King scored on the ensuing shift, taking a pass from Hendricks and turning and firing a backhander past the goalie. In a matter of seconds the 6-3 lead was a 6-5 one.
"I know it goes against everything I stand for to score a goal that slides along the surface and not go top shelf, but in these tough economic times it's okay to aim low sometimes. Backhander along the ground? I call that one the Steel Reserve."
Across the rink, Schram made sure the Grenades would not tack on an extra point. He kicked away shots, controlled rebounds, and played like a man possessed.
"It was a big difference seeing him play late in the game versus early in the game," Jamie Simek said. "He was like a cat out there. Or a sponge. Or a brick wall. He was a lot of things, but he was mostly a catty, spongy, brick wall."
The Comrades would strike again to tie the score a few shifts after King's tally. The goal was scored by Hendricks again, but much of the work was done by the defense to find Hendricks. Hendricks took a pass and took it one on one against a winded Grenade. After deking past him, Hendricks went in on the goalie on a mini breakaway and fired a top shelf shot glove side. This morning the goal already has over 9,000 views on Youtube.
The best goal of the game however, came from the Captain. Steve Hand fired home a cross crease pass from Horton, and gave the Comrades their first lead of the game.
"I'd been getting chances all game long, but it was nice to finally get one. A big one too," Hand said, looking relieved. The captain then paused, smiled, and said, "Cara gonna get it tonight."
The final minutes would play out as the Grenades tried to muster a comeback of their own, but the waning moments revealed they are not the Red Army. Few teams can create chances like Mother Russia can, and the fact of the matter is, when the Soviets come back on you, they diminish your morale and break your reserve, so when the moment comes that you do trail and need a comeback, and that moment will come, you just don't have anything left in the tank. It's just not possible.
I'll end on an interesting note. Two days ago we reflected on the season of the Soviets. Which version of the team will we see in the playoffs? The lazy team that gives up bunches of goals or the team that rallies around each other and can win games. Well, this game was a microcosm of the season. The Soviets surrendered a few goals early (losing games in the season early), then stormed back (small winning streak brought team to .500), then surrendered more in a row, (were 2-6 at one point), before storming back again with a string of goals in a row to win (5 game winning streak).
So a 7-6 win to become 7-6. Not bad. Not bad at all.
THREE STARS:
3: Jamie Simek
2: Steve Hand
1: Mark Hendricks
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