Osprey are Flying High

1st place vs 8th place.  We know where this is heading.  The Osprey have been dominant this year and the Evergreens… not so much.  The Friday night game was looking to be a rough one for the trees as they only had 8 players in the lineup.

 

Within the first 10 seconds the Osprey already had 2 shots on goal, all from a scoring position.  But the Evergreens were still motivated, and that only increased when Luke Levangie hit the post 20 seconds in, and then Hawrylak hit the crossbar 30 seconds after that.  In fact, the Evergreens were looking like the better team as they used the energy they knew they had at the start, and expected to see dwindle as time went on.  Blake Irvine stole the puck deep in the Osprey zone, made a spinning move and shot high.  It went off the shoulder of Matt Baird and up and over him, dropping behind the goaltender, but just to the outside of the post.

 

In the Evergreens zone we had a somewhat similar play.  Jamie Wutke saved it, but the puck went up off his stick and over his shoulder, landing beside the net.  Matt Pare was right there and hoped to get the free shot at the open net, but Wutke reached back with his stick just in time to knock the puck clear of danger.

 

Luke Levangie was skating across the blue line as he entered the zone and he took a wrister which fooled Baird, the goalie not even moving as the puck sailed into the net beside him.  1-0 Evergreens 5 and a half minutes in.  

 

Blake Irvine’s shot one minute later went through the five hole of Baird but couldn’t find the net as the Evergreens pressed.  Irvine was all over the Osprey in their end but he couldn’t bury that crucial second goal.

 

Travis Hatcher picked the pocket of Luke Hawrylak at the blue line and Josh Martel helped him out, sending Hatcher the loose puck.  Travis saw Scott Stewart throwing on the nitros and passed to him.  Scott split the D and went in alone, beating a Wutke blocker side to tie the game at 1.

 

A potent Osprey power play got an opportunity in the first but the Evergeeens shut it down, and even has the best scoring chance from Cobee MacNaughton.

 

Luke Hawrylak stole the puck off Josh Stevens near the Evergreens goal and he went behind his net and then travelled all the way up ice, taking the shot and then burying the rebound to make it 2-1 Evergreens after 1. 

 

On the power-play early, Blake Irvine had a glorious chance as his first shot was denied, but the rebound came back to him.  Matt Baird dove across and sprawled ad Irvine fought off Isaac Pelley who reached in with his stick.  Irvine couldn’t quite manage to get the shot off as the Osprey sighed in relief.

 

Just as the penalty expired, Mike Bourgeois knocked the puck off an Evergreen stick and Matt Simpson picked it up deep in the Evergreens zone.  Josh Stevens skated to the back post and Simpson hit him with the pass as Josh sent it home.  Back to a tie game we went.

 

Despite Evergreens pressure when in the Osprey zone, they were giving up too many scoring chance in their own end as fatigue set in.  Tyler Carr took a rather soft hooking call and the Osprey were back on the power play.  Greg Moffat, fresh off the IR, took a shot that Matt Pare made a beauty tip on.  The puck went between Wutke’s legs and just missed the net by millimetres.

 

Rohan Dempsey would drive the net with Scott Stewart carrying the puck.  When the pass came, Rohan was ready and got everything on his one timer, the Osprey were in the lead, and the Osprey play well with leads.  Only a minute later, they would extend the lead.  Josh Stevens looked like he might shoot, but instead sent it down low to Matt Simpson who was behind the goal and just got a stick on it before it deflected off Wutke’s stick and in.  4-2 Osprey.

 

Simpson would score a nearly identical goal a couple minutes later, this time having more time and space and tucking the puck in on his backhand easily.

 

The Evergreens would get one back and it would be a sweet pass from Tyler Carr to Luke Levangie whose one timer was his second goal of the night.  That would give the Evergreens hope, but in the final minute, with the goalie pulled, Matt Simpson, with his ass against the end boards in his own end, would shoot all the way down the ice and hit the middle bar of the net to finish off that hat trick.  His 4 point night brings him within 2 of 100 NHL points.  Mike Bourgeois’ breakaway with 10 seconds left in the game, which he failed to score on despite zero people even back checking him, would keep his NHL points total at 79.

 

With a figure skating competition stealing our ice next week, the whole league is on a winter break.  We will see you back the following week.