Osprey are Bess-T

Since their inception, the Osprey have been a force to be reckoned with in the Nomad Hockey League.  Their Captain, Nathan Bessey has always been the brains behind the team, and shown his leadership via his hard work on the ice, but this year he has come into his own as a producer.  He came into week 3 leading the league in points, tied with Cobee MacNaughton at 5 points.  Cobee had himself a great 4 point night on Wednesday and was enjoying his hot minute in first as he awaited the results of the Osprey/Greyhounds game.

Much like the Eurekas the night before, the Greyhounds found themselves shorthanded at puck drop with just 9 players suiting up.  The Osprey were rolling double centres and the three extra bodies on the bench would prove to be instrumental.

Matt Ryder came into the Greyhounds zone and made a drop pass the Bessey in the high slot.  Theuerkauf appeared to not see the pass made and slid in the direction Ryder kept skating, leaving Bessey with what amounted to an empty net to open the scoring.

Seconds later, Matt Pellerin got an opening on the left wing and went in untouched, shooting off the post and in to make it 2-0.  Taylor McKay then wrapped the puck around on the backhand to make it 3-0 and the game was getting out of hand, the Greyhounds struggling to find a scoring chance.

The Osprey's next good chance came on the power play.  A floater from the point, shot by Nathan Bessey, managed to find a seam and hit right off the post.  Kevin Myketyn was up at the net to take advantage of his scoring abilities and his eyes nearly popped out of his head when the puck dropped in front of him, behind the goalie.  He swung his stick but Mike Gilmore reached around his own goaltender and knocked the puck away.  Matt Pellerin was sitting on the opposite side of the net and he got the Gilmore clearance and was able to easily put it in despite Gilmore diving to try to stop him.

It was 4-0 after the first and the Osprey continued their dominance in the second period.  Dan Theuerkauf made a great save off the Ryder line's nice passing very early in the period and kept the puck out for the first 5 minutes.  Derick Levesque got the best chance of the game to that point for the Greyhounds when he ripped a shot off the crossbar behind Matt Baird.

Matt Ryder would extend the lead with a glove hand side shot after a Bessey faceoff win.  The assist, his 5th point of the night, put Bessey back in front of Cobee.  He nearly added to his point total when he got a rebound to the left of Theuerkauf and tried going between his own legs.  He got everything on the shot and just missed, and nearly put it over the glass while he was at it.  Derick Levesque was rushing the puck up the middle, trying to find a way through the Osprey, but Bessey picked his pocket and went in alone on Theurkauf, popping the water bottle for his first ever 6 point game.

Matt Baird was staring down a shutout when the Greyhounds got their best scoring chance of the night.  An odd man rush ended up with Scott Stewart receiving a pass on the back door with an open net but the puck bounced and went of the top of the blade of his stick and Matt Baird kept the clean sheet, the first shutout by any goalie this season.

The Osprey win puts them alone in first place with 9 points after 3 games.  They have allowed a mind numbing 3 goals, 8 fewer than the next lowest team.  These Osprey will have a target on their backs next week when they take on the Evergreens.  The Greyhounds will be looking for a bounce back game against the Tigers.