Fresh Faces

In a surprise that no-one thought possible, the Eurekas had a full lineup on Tuesday as they faced the Norsemen.  Yes, that included Leighton Yeo whose absence was expected until December, and newcomer Marcus Briand.  The Norsement however had Blake Isenor, and do you really need anyone else?

The game started off with Blake Isenor, who you may recall from such things as; the previous paragraph, and captaining the Norsemen, well he threw a puck on goal with Michael Cunningham popping in the rebound.

The rest of the first period was absent from much of anything other than a Jordan Kenny penalty, but things got going in the second.  Stephen Warwick made a nice drop pass to Connor Tousignant who shot the puck across to the far side of the net into the top corner.  2-0 Norsemen.  Then the players swapped places and it was Warwick who benefitted from Connor making a play on the net.  The puck came over for an east tap in, and a 3-0 lead was looking pretty nice for the Norsemen.

The Eurekas, with players still learning each other's names, having never seen all these faces before, were finally ready to get on the game sheet just 30 seconds after the 3-0 Norsemen goal.  A shot form the point was redirected by Leighton Yeo, right into Blake Isenor's face.  The blood. Oh the blood.  Well, the blood stayed inside his body because thankfully he had a cage on.  However the puck dropped right to Jordan Webber for a goal.

The Norsemen turned the puck over outside their own blueline and Tyler Carr took advantage, completely undressing the tendy to make it 3-2, that 3-0 lead looking like it may not hold up.

With just 2 minutes remaining, Ashton Speight had to make a huge side to side sliding save to keep the game within reach.  The Eurekas couldn't find a way to score that one last goal as they fell to the Norsemen 3-2.  It was nice to see them in a close game again after the nightmare a week earlier.

In our second game of the night, we had the Greyhounds looking to defeat the Tigers to draw level with the Lions, but the Tigers had neither of their first round picks as Cobee MacNaughton was in Toronto, allegedly because Taylor Swift is coming to see him, and Kenzie Wadden was cut from the team due to poor performance.  To replace Kenzie was Matt MacNeil, a Nomad rookie looking to make an immediate impact.

Dan Keays was the man making the first impact however as he made an end to end rush that resulted in a 1-0 Tiger lead.

Then greasy Chad Hasegawa took a penalty, as he always does, and the Greyhounds top defenceman, Derick Levesque found the back of the net on the power-play.  Norm Gallant could be seen giving Hasegawa what for in the wake of the goal. Such a shame.

Dan Keays was like "don't worry Chad, I got you bro" the next minute as he potted his second of the game, a true legend.  But wait, no, Derick Levesque wanted more, and he got it, as he scored his second of the game.  The battle between the defencemen was intense.  Forwards refused to even shoot as the game was one goal short of setting the Nomad Hockey Leagie record for most goals by Defencemen in a period.

No more goals would be scored and we'd head to the second tied at 2.  The forwards, now given the green light to score, were ready, but you won't believe this.  Derick Levesque was red hot as he scored his third of the night early into the period.  Cameron Bissel, a forward, got in on the action exactly 4 minutes into the period as he scored his first of the year.  The Tigers found themselves in a two goal deficit and not much going their way.

Then Big Gally moved up ice with the puck and spotted the rook.  He give him the puck and whispered in his ear "I believe in you".  MacNeil, his heart full, wheeled in and made a nice move, finishing it off and bringing his Tigers back within one.

Justin Langille, fresh off an eternity with no points, surprised everyone with his shot on goal from the point and tied the game up.  It all came down to Tigers stud Ron Beaton, tied with Kenzie Wdden for the team lead in goals.  Rob was not cool with sharing and took that lead for himself as he scored to give the Tigers a late lead, a lead they would ultimately hold onto as they secured the three points, points that would vault them over the Greyhounds and into 6th place.  Unfortunately for Nick Comeau, he was absent for the Tigers win and he is likely questioning his own sanity as he searches for hard to come by victories.