Sable Getting It Together

A big triple header Monday night had Nomad Hockey League fans scrambling to get their tickets to secure a good seat for the action.  The Astros and Sable were leading off and the scoring started early.

Landon Miron came into the zone and deked through three Sable players and took a wrist shot over the blocker of Trevor Pate for the first goal, and on his next shift, the shot was an identical one for the 2-0 lead.  Two goals on the first few shots was giving off blowout vibes, something a struggling Sable team could not afford to be on the wrong end of.  So when Brennan Ware responded with a top shelf one timer a minute after Landon’s second goal, the Sable came alive.

Astros defenceman Jonathan Webber put his body on the line and blacked a slapshot shortly after his team gave up their first goal, a painful looking block, but he cleared the puck and moved the play up ice before wincing as he departed the ice.  His puck moving would lead to an Astros scoring chance as Landon Miron got the puck beside the goal and tried to wrap it around Pate, but the goaltender was finding his game and made a big toe save.  The rebound was cleared and the Sable immediately had a chance of their own, but Jake Rankin couldn’t beat Jared Worth in the Astros goal.

At 7:20 of the first, Cole Stewart and James Harrison raced for a puck in the Sable zone, Stewart in the backcheck, Harrison on the forecheck.  It looked like a tie, but Harry did a one handed toe drag around Stewart and was suddenly alone vs Pate, but he couldn’t finish the beauty play off and the score would remain 2-1 for the Astros when the period ended.

Early in the second, the Sable were still seeking the tying goal, entering the Astros zone on a 2 on 1.  Ware drops to Jared Creelman, who holds the puck as he cuts across the net and looks to wait out Jared Worth.  Jared vs Jared, and Worth made the big glove save.  The rebound went back to Creelman and this time his shot beat Worth, but not the post.

At the other end, Miron nearly had the hatty as he tried the blocker side once more, but didn’t get the shot up high enough as Pate made the pad save.  Jake Rankin, unable to score in the first, tried a behind the back no look pass in front which just missed connecting.  Another 2 on 1, Stewart to Hurlbert, the pass gets shanked into Hurlbert’s own face, no goal.

The Sable, after having twice as many scoring chances as the Astros, finally made good on one, as Greg “Apples” Bonnell had a beauty of an assist with the spinning backhand pass over to Cole Stewart who perfectly placed the shot over the pad and under the glove of Jared Worth with 5:46 to go in the game.

James Harrison had a beauty stretch pass up to Josh Beaudreau who took the pass and then a few strides, shooting as he went,  his shot couldn’t quite beat Pate’s glove with 2:55 on the clock.  Then Riley Hurlbert with 90 seconds left, powered his way to the net, going down in a mass of bodies that left Cole Stewart with the puck alone in the slot.  Jared Worth was a worthy foe and stoned him.

With just 30 seconds left and a delayed penalty call coming, the Astros James Harrison had a glorious scoring chance.  He had time and space and took the shot which was ear marked for the top corner, but the shaft of Pate’s goal stick got the puck and knocked it clear of the net.  The power-play wouldn’t be fruitful and to the shootout we went.  First up, Landon Miron.  He skated straight at the net and shot low and hard, and that’s put the Astros up from shot 1.  The Sable tried to send Brennan Ware, but he had been in the box and was ineligible.  Jared Worth instead made the save on Silas Bonnell, then Pate stopped James Harrison whose number he had all night, and no-one else could score either as the Astros took the extra point.

With the single point, the Astros can still potentially take first place depending on how the Highlanders perform.  The Sable’s ceiling is 6th place and they are determined to get there.