Fighting like Cats and Dogs

In their previous meeting, Logan MacLean and the Greyhounds blanked the Lions 3-0.  The article about the game was conspicuously absent, and the Greyhounds took that personally.  The Lions were aware that the grey dogs would be wanting to stick it to them again, but conversely, they did not enjoy being shut out, so weren’t going to be letting that happen again if they could avoid it.

 

Just 1:20 into the game, Kyle Ervin kept in a Lions clearing attempt by kicking it, and it bounced right over a Lions stick and to Brock Bethune.  Brock cut across from the boards to the slot and moving left, he shot to the right, going top corner over the blocker of Trevor Pate.  1-0 Greyhounds.

 

Iain Duncan had a good slot chance on Logan MacLean just after the goal, but Logan was square to the shot and absorbed it.  Off the next draw the Greyhounds cleared and the Lions regrouped Keith Webb sauced a pass over to Matt Gendron a couple minutes later and he sniped a beauty over Logan MacLean’s blocker to tie it up.  That was a big for the mental state of the Lions who may have been thinking about that previous shutout.  On that same shift for the Lions, Keith Webb tipped a point shot and then took the puck off the end board and took a backhand shot between the legs which nearly beat Logan.  Then they worked the puck around and Matt Gendron took the shot with Keith Webb screening in front and the puck found its way through Logan, just crossing the line before Noah Joncas and Jamie Richard could get to it.

 

Bryan Gillis had a good chance off the rush for the Greyhounds but he couldn’t beat Pate, then Kyle Gouthro had the corner picked were it not for Pate’s glove.  The Lions were just off at the other net, missing a few redirections just wide of the goal as it remained 2-1. 

 

Mat McLeod made a nice pass to Greg Delano down low and he tried going to his backhand, but Pate made the save.  Pate then dove across the net to glove down the rebound just ahead of Drew LeFrank.

 

Delano would get another chance though.  Connor MacPherson knocked a Lions dump in out of the air and tossed it up to a streaking Delano.  A Lions defender got a stick on it, but not enough and Delano was off.  He did his NHL 98 patented deke where he goes forehand to backhand from a low angle and beat Pate for the tying goal with 5:48 left in the first.

 

On the next shift, Bryan Gillis worked his ass off to get back and disrupt Jarrett Carter as he took a pass from Dustin Hall on a 2 on 1.  The game was pretty back and forth for the next few minutes with Andrew MacDonald nearly scoring in front for the Lions, and Kyle Gouthro doing the same for the Greyhounds.

 

Delano nearly had another breakaway but Jamie Richard got enough of the pass mid air to make Delano go offside.  Then back up the ice, Iain Duncan nearly caught Logan with a cross body shot that went of MacLean’s skate blade and then the post but stayed out of the net.  Jamie Richard made a nice pass to Gendron from behind the net and if Gendron didn’t shank his shot, the Lions would have been up by a goal.  The Lions continued to press as the period came to an end as Hall and Tousignant on a 2 on 1 ended with Brock Bethune knocking the puck off Tousignant’s toe drag as Bethune fell.  Then with just a few seconds left in the period Stephen Warwick turned over a puck in the neutral zone and since Dustin Hall hangs out there, the two of them went into the Greyhounds zone and with a beauty passing play, Hall ended up scoring his second of the season.  The goal gives him 202 points all time, 1 ahead of Matt Peters for the all time lead.  Matt Ryder is forecast to overtake him in about 5 games, so he’ll enjoy it while he can.

 

In the second period someone increased the fuckerage.  Jarrett Carter took a penalty when Gillis grabbed his stick and pulled down Carter.  The two went down to the ice, but Jarrett got the penalty.  Feeling the penalty could have been a coincidental at least, the Lions were getting off their game.  Just 2 seconds after that penalty expired, the Greyhounds equalized.  Mat McLeod made a pass from behind the net to Greg Delano but a Lions player picked it off.  Unfortunately for the Lions, when he went to move up ice, the puck rolled off his stick right to Delano and before Pate could get set, Delano had ripped the puck top corner.

 

Then Joey Richard got taken down by Drew LeFrank as LeFrank turned.  Feeling the skate hitting his from behind, Joey thought it was intentional, but the slow motion replay shows otherwise.  Either way, the Lions were continuing to feel they were getting the short end of the stick and tempers were flaring.  Adding fuel to the fire, Connor LeBlanc took a shot off the next faceoff and it hit LeFrank in front and it redirected in. No chance for Pate on the play.  This was where the teams turned into rivals.  Jamie Richard chanced his way into the goal celebration and bumped into LeFrank and pushing and shoving ensued.  No penalties were called, but they were when a Lions player took down LeFrank at centre about 15 seconds later.

 

On the power-play, Connor LeBlanc rushed the puck, shooting from the top of the circle he kept skating, finding the rebound and slamming it home and then he went flying as Pate’s stick got caught in his skates. With 3 goals in just under 2 minutes, the Greyhounds went from down 3-2 to up 5-3.

 

Dustin Hall beat Mat McLeod to a puck and got a shot on Logan and while doing so took a tiny little slash that didn’t affect the play, which the refs ended up calling.  The Lions went to the power play and Joey Richard was a fraction of a second too late getting to a puck that arrived back door off Iain Duncan’s skate.  Kyle Gouthro was the one who beat him to the puck and the two battled to the corner where the ref called them both for penalties as Gouthro rubbed out Joey who was unsure of how he ended up with a penalty of his own as the refs were trying to manage the game.

 

Andrew MacDonald got tied up with Brock Bethune and in response he shot Bethune’s stick from his own end all the way down to the Greyhounds end.  MacDonald of course got a penalty on the play.

 

The teams played 4 on 4 and Jarrett Carter worked the front of the net, looking for a chance as 2 Greyhounds battled him.  Joncas got his stick up and hit Carter right in the cage, yet Jarrett somehow ended up with a slashing call on the play.  Kyle Ervin then decided to take a run at Jamie Richard in the neutral zone but that went uncalled and the Lions were getting all David ragey.

 

Drew LeFrank took an unsportsmanlike penalty as he seemed to cross the ice to fake taking a run at Keith Webb.  The Lions went to the power play and Taylor McKay took a one timer from the point.  Logan made the save and the rebound dropped in front of him.  Matt Gendron took the puck and shot as the whistle went, an early whistle that cost the Lions the goal that Gendron scored just after the whistle stopped play.

 

Greyhounds captain Connor MacPherson had a shorthanded chance but Joey Richard closed the gap quickly and got there before Connor could get the shot.  Jarrett Carter took a high sticking penalty as Greg Delano skated right into his stick (not very quickly though, rumour is he is slow AF).  That penalty forced Carter out of the game with 6 minutes left.  A tough pill to swallow for the Lions after Carter’s second penalty seemed unwarranted.  Carter also leads the Lions in scoring and they would be without him as they tried to mount a comeback.

 

Carter’s penalty was expiring as Drew LeFrank had a golden chance to score, but Pate kicked out the pad for a beauty save.  Try as they might, the Lions couldn’t find their way back to the scoresheet, and the Greyhounds couldn’t either, so the game would end 6-3.  The win brings the Greyhounds to 4th place while the loss for the Lions doesn’t impact their place in the standings.  They have only lost thrice this season and two of the lose losses are to the Greyhounds.