Aurora and Lions Duke it Out

David Lacey's Aurora are in hot pursuit of the first place Osprey and needed a win on Wednesday to keep within arms reach of first place.  They came in with a clear plan to attack the Lions net.  It was an onslaught.  Jamie Wutke was getting tested from every direction as the Lions struggled to make good on their breakout attempts.  At one point the shots on goal were 18-4 in favour of the Aurora, but Wutke hadn't allowed one on him and it was Jake fucking Rankin, the better of the two Rankins in the league, who struck first.  He pressured Logan MacLean in the Aurora goal and as Logan went to play the puck, he put it between his two teammates and Jake stole it and quickly popped it in he yawning cage to give the Lions the lead against the run of play, and in the final minute of the first.

No-one on the Lions bench could argue that they were the better team to this point, but they were doing as much as they needed to win the game, albeit not in the way they wanted.  The Aurora were double shifting their top two players and when you give guys like Brandon Crowell and Matt Simpson enough ice time, they are bound to make things happen.

Early in the second, the Aurora took advantage of a Lions misplay just inside the Aurora zone and a couple short passes saw the puck up to Matt Simpson 1 on 1 with Dave Matthews.  Simpson found a little space entering the zone and snapped a quick and hard shot off the corner crossbar and in to level the score.

Kirk Levy would keep a puck in on the next shift and as he threw it down low, it ended up on the stick of Jamie a Richard who made a quick pass to Jake Rankin perfectly positioned in front and he popped it in just as quickly as Jamie had passed to him, and the Lions were once again in front

David Lacey scored to tie the game up and then the Lions Rob Emberley say Rankin streaking and he tried to force a pass to him through Matt Simpson on the blue line.  Simpson took it off the body and made a pass over to Lacey.  Lacey's shot was brutal, an absolute embarrassment, like he himself is, yes THAT bad, but the abhorrent shot made it over to Max Dewey in front and Dewey did good things and put the puck to the back of the net.  Matt Simpson, recorded his first assist of the season.

Emberley, just 10 seconds after making a rare mistake for him, was able to atone for that error as he went to the net and picked up a rebound of a Rankin shot and he threw it into the empty net as the score was tied once again.

The Aurora continued to control the puck in the Lions zone and Wutke lost about 15 lbs in sweat as he was standing on his head.  Estimates of the SOG total were North of 50, but the game remained tied until Dave Matthews was assessed a 2 minute minor for tripping and then another 2 for unsportsmanlike when he expressed his displeasure with the call.

30 seconds into the first PP, Mat McLeod got the puck at the point and spotted Matt Simpson cutting across in front of the net in the slot.  The pass was on the tape and Simpson redirected it through the legs of Wutke and the Aurora had the lead with 3:15 to go and still on the power play.

McLeod would do it again, this time, he took the shot and it squeaked through the arm and body of Wutke and dropped into the net.  2 goal lead for the Aurora with 2:17 on the clock.

The Lions would try to pull Wutke, but the Aurora hemmed them in as they had all game, and it wasn't until the last 40 seconds that the Lions got to exit their zone.  Brandon Marsh carried the puck over the line and put the puck over to Dustin Hall on the right wing, about 4' in the air, but Hall knocked it down on the backhand and went to the net.  He pulled MacLean over to the post and then threw a backhand sauce to Matt Gendron in front, and Gendron buried it on his backhand.  Just 31 seconds on the clock and we had a game.

The Lions won the draw and Lacey took down Hall in a greasy, borderline dirty, play and the refs's arm went up.  The Lions got the puck down ice and the penalty was called with 20 seconds left.  With the goalie out the Lions tried to push it to a shootout.  Hall got another pass out front to Gendron who didn't get all of it, but MacLean made the save and the Aurora tried to clear it but Weatherbee kept it in.  He made the pass down low to Jake Rankin who had a number of good options for passes as the Aurora had gotten out of position thinking the puck was leaving the zone.  Right before he got the puck, the Lions got Zamboni door'd as the puck hit that stupid spot and kicked out.  A quick puck battle ensued and a shot to the net nearly dropped to Gendron in front, but it was cleared down and the Aurora took home the whole three points while the Lions left defeated.

With it being Halloween tonight, we hope to see some pics from players of their Halloween costumes.  Email pics to nomadhockeyleague@gmail.com and we will post some in the Facebook group if we get a bunch.

Happy Halloween!