Birds Fly High, Tigers and Lions vie for Feline Supremacy

The Eurekas were short handed on Tuesday, but they had Red Hot Rowan, so would the need a full lineup vs the Osprey.  Well 33 seconds into the game, Matt Ryder opened the scoring, then Steve Power made it 2-0 1:12 into the game, so yes, the Eurekas could have used a full lineup.

That being said, with just under 9 minutes to play in the first, after a lull in scoring, Red Hot broke out of the Eurekas zone with 3 of his homies.  The Osprey decided not to play defence on the play, letting their one defenceman and sub goalie Logan MacLean out to dry.  

A 4 on 1, so many options.  Who to pass to?  Zack Walsh? No, he just gave Rowan the puck.  Leighton Yeo? No. Yeo rhymes with no, so denied.  The other guy? No, Rowan never even looked to soo who else was with him. This was a time when Rowan knew that his hands were burning and he needed to be the trigger man.  So like Ovi on the hunt for Gretzky, Rowan let out a samurai attack yell and fired.  Logan was fooled by the angle of the stick and the shot he though was going to come high, went low, right between his legs.  Rowan Ayers, goals I. Back to back games and 3 in his last 5, good enough for 3rd among active players on the Eurekas.

The Osprey took that personally.  Nathan Bessey put his big boy pants on and led like a captain, scoring on his next shift, then Matt Pellerin 37 seconds later.  The Eurekas excitement was gone and forgotten as Glenn Boyce made it 5-1.  Then the real dagger came when Kevin Myketyn took a point shot that floated on goal, through some bodies and into the net.  It was Kevin's first goal in nearly 14 months and he couldn't contain his excitement.  He even chirped a Eurekas player that wasn't even at the game, before heading back to the bench to call his wife to let her know that she should get the champagne on ice for when he got home.

6-1 Osprey after 1, and the Osprey started to tone it down a notch.  Steve Power and Nathan Bessey would each score during the second as the Eurekas fell 8-1 to an Osprey team desperately hoping to find a way back into first place.

Our other matchup pitted the Tigers vs the Lions and it was a battle.  Both squads looked for goals but to goalies were not playing that game.  Not until the Lions coughed up a puck in their own zone.  Darren Ells was on hand to take advantage and it was 1-0 Tigers.

Jamie Richard would get it back as he protected the puck from Norm Gallant and fired in stride, beating Comeau along the ice with 6:26 left in the first.  There would be chances but no goals for the remainder of the period, and none still until late in the second.  With Jamie Richard in the box for his part in three Tigers players colliding in a clusterfuck of bodies, the Lions were killing the penalty.

Kirk Levy got the puck in his zone and Dustin Hall started to fly the zone.  Levy hit him with a pass, the puck rolling.  As Hall got over the blueline with a Tiger in pursuit, the puck hadn't settled, so Hall decided to just shoot it.  He wound up and connected with the puck on edge, it was a whiffle puck and curved around Comeau and in for the 2-1 lead with 4:50 to go.

In the final minute of play, the goalie pulled, the Tigers made their play.  A puck that didn't get cleared ended up making its way to Matt MacNeil, and he smiled to tie the game up.

To a shootout we went.  Jake Rankin was up first and he just missed the net.  MacNeil up for the Tigers, he went backhand and scored.  Jamie Richard then put it up to the top corner, it looked like it was labeled, but connected with the knob of Comeau's stick and went over the net.  Dan Keays for the win? No Wutke with the huge glove save.  Pressure was on for Joey Richard and he came down on the left side and shot.  Comeau with the huge blocker stop to give the Tigers the win.  The win keeps them in the hunt for 6th place, but they will need to win and have the Greyhounds to lose their next two for that to happen.