Matty with the Hatty

The Lions and Osprey met for the first time this season last night and Matt Simpson was sporting a jersey with a C on it for the first time as he stepped into the ice.  He was also playing Defense.  

 

A jam play at the side of the Osprey net early in had Simpson watching from in front while Lions captain Dustin Hall tried to force a puck through the crease to an open Jamie Richard on the opposite side, but Matt Baird got his stick in the way.  That was the only decent chance until Nick Collins pinched and took a one timer on Lions substitute goalie Ashton Speight.  Speight made the save and controlled the rebound and the game remained scoreless.

 

Simpson wound up with 10 minutes to play in the first and made a filthy deke at the Lions blue line, getting him past 2 Lions with one toe drag.  He then fed a pass right into the wheelhouse of Matt Pare.  Pare wound up and could be heard yelling as he completely fanned on the puck.  The play went back up ice and Matt Gendron got a decent shot on goal that Matt Baird made a stick save on.

 

Simpson broke up a back door to Hall and sent Rohan Dempsey away.  Dempsey used his speed to rush through and Speight had to make a good pad save, then the puck went back up ice again, the Lions with a 3 on 1.  Jarrett Carter fed to Hall in the slot, and his one time shot was stopped again by Baird.

 

With an Osprey penalty just ending, the Lions Kyle Weatherbee took a shot from the point which Jarrett Carter redirected into the net behind Baird to give them the 1-0 lead.  The Osprey protested that Baird had been hit in the head with the puck, and despite video confirmation after the game, the referees didn’t spot the contact which had come from a shot behind the goal line.

 

To follow up that goal, a nice keep in at the line led to Matt Gendron taking a wrister that Jarrett Carter redirected into the net for his second of the game and a 2-0 Lions lead with 7:40 left to play in the opening period.  The Osprey needed a response, and it took just over 2 minutes to get it.

 

After a good scoring chance from Travis Hatcher was stopped, the Osprey regrouped and Nick Collins nearly scored on the short side.  Then Matt Simpson came up the right wing and fanned on a shot that went off the heel of his stick and through the five hole to cut the lead in half.

 

With 3 and a half to play, Stephen Warwick took a shot that squeezes through the gear of Baird and rolled out behind him towards the goal line, but just before it could cross the line, Matt Simpson reached in and cleared it, nearly banking it in off his won goalie.

 

With the score at 2-1 to start the second period, it was still anyone’s game.  Then Osprey decided it would be theirs.  Seconds into the period, Greg Moffat took rebound at the side of the goal and banked it on off the skate of Speight to tie the game.

 

Rohan Dempsey nearly squeaked one through the pads on a rush 30 seconds later, and off the draw, Kyle Weatherbee lost the handle and nearly had it slide into his own goal.

 

The Lions would get a chance to get ahead again, but Baird made it seem like no real danger, and then Scott a Stewart just missed, putting the puck over the bar.  The Osprey edged a little closer.  Matt Pare had a great scoring chance but Speight out waited him and Pare went around the net without a shot, but he spotted a man coming into the slot and sent a pass.  That man was Keaton Hicks and Hicks one timed the pass off the crossbar.  Dorian Brooks grabbed the rebound behind the goal line and sent it through the crease just behind the goaltender’s skate and to Matt Simpson at the point.  Simpson wristed a shot through traffic which was redirected but Speight melted it down.

 

Matt Simpson was back at it with 11:22 left.  After picking off a pass, he turned Kirk Levy inside out and then he went off the back bar to give the Osprey their first lead of the game 3-2.  Momentum took the Osprey and lightened their legs and they began to get more chances

 

Keaton Hicks used his king reach to get a stick in a puck that the Lions D were about to shoot and he and Simpson were off on a 2 on 0.  Hicks made the pass and Simpson redirected it in to complete the hat trick.  Scott Stewart would extend the mead 2 minutes later as he cut in to the net and put the puck through the 5 hole.

 

Jarrett Carter would complete his first hatty in the league as he weaved into the zone and beat Baird blocker side, but it wouldn’t be enough.  The Osprey added an empty netter and took the game 6-3.