Falcons - Peregrines - Rødovre
The Rødovre team welcomes us with a late confirmation of the game happening, but we take it!
Also, a twist was that the rink we played in was about 20-30% smaller than usual, a fun element; keep reading, and you will understand why.
Goals:
1. Lukas - A) Sheridan
2. Robert - A) Mikkel
3. Mikkel - A) Lukas - Robert
4. Lukas ( Penalty Shot)
MVP of the Game Esben!
1st Period. 🏒🏒
Right from the first 10 seconds of the game, we discovered this would be a really strong team to face. Carl tried to warn us in the locker about it, but whoever listened?
0:1 in the first 2 minutes, broken play in the middle zone continues in our zone, and in a weird move, the puck slides in our net. There was nothing the defense nor Elliot could do.
The pace in 1st Period was high, mixed with a lot of clean, solid hits from both teams, which made this Period look very professional and good hockey - not a typical thing for DIV 2 games. If you wanted to see a good hockey game, it was The Period you should not miss #playoffhockey.
The small rink made it look and feel very fast; honestly, we also skated goddamn fast for our abilities :D. There were plenty of excellent and semi-good chances on both ends, but the scoreboard did not change, with goalies doing magic on both ends.
In one of the battles in front of the net, Sheridan got a stick in his face (please wear a visor, boys...) and got a pretty nasty blood bath, but no penalty for Rødovre and no ice to put on a newly acquired beauty element for Sheridan.
2nd Period. The boys are getting tired 👴
The pace slowed down on both teams, tiredness was visible, and slacky plays in the defensive zone came along with it. But it was to our advantage as Lukas capitalized on the stolen puck in mid-zone and finished with a snipe 1:1.
We were back in the game! Unfortunately, just for 5 minutes or so. Rødovre shifted gears and brought it back to First Period speeds, and we slept on it. First, we got caught by six men on the ice, and they made us pay 2:1. Shortly after, we got a confusing try to exit in our zone that led to a stolen puck, a quick turnover and a shot that, according to Elliot was not supposed to go in.
There were a couple more penalty kills where our defensive squad of Esben, Nicki, Bo, and Evan neutralized their well-carried attempts.
Confusion with the clock gave us what we needed: rest! In the last 8,5 minutes, we held strong on the defensive side. Elliot saved our ass a couple of times. And we stayed just two goals behind, slippery for them!
3d Period. Mess 💩
After a Motivational talk from Gints and Tactical observations from Bo and Elliot, Robert decided to do an experimental shift in offensive lines. Mikkel joins Robert and Lukas, allowing Sheridan to play with Carl and Gints.
And it worked - somewhat ... We scored more, but we also let goals in.
4: 1 Rødovre scores
4:2 Falcons Return with Beauty from Robert
5:2 Rødovre with a playbook goal - clean win in a faceoff to quick shot get it.
5:3 PP Goal: Almost as an Ovi one-timer, Mikkel shoots so hard we all on the bench thought it broke the net (refs had to check)
We Are Back in the game!
6:3 They get a quick wander miracle goal; don't ask me how.
7:3 Another one by Rodovre where we had no explanation
7:4 Robert put the jets on, got tripped, refs awarded a penalty shot, and Lukas finished the job!
With 5 Minutes to go, tension is high! Maybe it's even too high for us to handle. Sheridan gets a 2 min penalty, and that turns quickly into an exchange of 100s of " F*cks" between Sheridan and a couple of red-dressed guys. The ref makes a call and sends Sheridan to an early shower break. Little did he know that to enjoy well-deserved alone time in the shower, he first had to cross the whole Rødovre bench. Dirty scramble erupts, 3 on 1, 1 on 1 , then 2 on 1, the things you see in movies. Refs, teammates, hallmand somehow splits it up.
We cool it down there on the ice and call it a game.