THE

UPPER VALLEY HOCKEY LEAGUE

Nordiques
Tuck
1st
0
1
2rd
1
2
3rd
2
0
FINAL
3
3
Shots
32
21
January 11th, 2011 - 9:20PM
Union Arena - Woodstock, VT
Pre-Game
Recap
Box Score
Discussion
Game ID: 712

Nords force shootout, but lose to Tuck in Goalies Duel!

The second place Tuck squad (do they really have no nickname?) who have only been beaten twice thus far, faced off against the third place Nords. No shuffling in the standings would occur if the Nords won, only moral victories could be earned in this classic UVHL tilt.

To be completely honest, not much happened in the first period. The pace of the game was excellent, and there were great chances at both ends, but only one of them made it to the scoresheet. Tuck struck first with 4:26 left when Steve Kenning, who is often Tuck's goaltender when Dan Yacey is unavailable, found the back of the net from halswy Coughlin and defenseman Chris Johnson - aka the "Other Chris Johnson". The Nords failed to capitalize on the PP when Jordan Barnett took his first of two penalties at 10:49 for high sticking. Both goalies were sharp, and The Nords held a slight advantage on shots 8-3.

The scond period saw LOTS of back and forth action without many scoring chances. Many plays were neutralized between the bluelines, or in the slot by blocked shots, missed nets, and tips, and each team registered only one shot each through the first 4 and a half minutes. I saw a nice defensive play by Tuck in the slot to nix the Nords. Tuck scored their second to go up 2-0 on a rebound after JT made the first save down low at 4:30 with the Governator scoring from James Hay and the Other CJ. Tuck found two in the box at 3:53 and 3:43 with barnett and Coughlin sitting for hooking and tripping, and then they had a 2-on-1 while they were down 5-on-3! Nice PP Nords... but coming back down the ice to the other end Yacey made a great glove save as the Nords advanced 3-on-1. However, patience paid off and the Nords finally capitalized while up 2 men scoring on a cross-ice pass from Jordan McGee to Brian Racicot who made a cross-crease pass to Pierce Mayhew for the goal at 2:27. McGee made a great outside move to the left, and the right-handed shooter took a backhander that was adeptly saved by Yacey. I missed Colin Carrihill's unassisted goal with 1 minute to go in the second to give Tuck a 3-1 lead going into the third. Shots were even, and occurred often in this period, and tallied 13 apiece! Both goalies played great and looked sharp with their A-games on display.

Tuck got better as the game went on, and in the third they were rolling. The Governator made a fantastic poke check to deny a Nords 3-on-1 at the blueline. Kenning took down teammate Johnson inside the blueline, and Johnson then looked at the ref for the call on the play only to see another green jersey down on the ice with him. Tuck F Scott Howard hit the post on a backhand at 11:25, and then Coughlin poked it past two Nords players along the boards for a great breakaway shot at 9:26 that JT deflected out of play. Poli Nightingale hit the post past Yacey on a shot from the top of the right circle at 8:24, and then Marshy scored on a quick blast in the slot at 7:51 from Park and Coates. One minute later park's shot was gathered by Coates on the rebound to tie the game at 3. Nords F Roger Phillips had a great chance that was saved by Yacey at 4:07, in part because Phillips was hooked by Howard, but Tuck killed it off once again by blocking many shots on the PK. Tuck used their timeout with 59 seconds to go, and they turned it into an immediate scoring chance! Strategery! The Nords had their own turn getting in the way of pucks on the PK with Andy Puchalik in the box for the last 36 seconds of the game for hooking Johnson who hit the frickin' post as Tuck pressed for the regulation win.

And now for our second longest shootout ever in the history of the UVHL! The Nords went first, and it was an exciting and classic Goalie's Duel!

SHOOTOUT:
Coates - R pad save Yacey
Johnson - blocker save JT
Mayhew - Yacey lost stick, re-do - top corner over blocker!
Hay - backhand cross-crease deke!
McGee - pad save 5-hole Yacey
Coughlin - stick save 5-hole JT
Phillips - deke, missed net on Yacey
Bates - stick save JT
Racicot - slapper, missed net on Yacey
McGovern - L pad save JT
Kerrigan - deke R, missed on Yacey
Barnett - sprawling stick save by JT!
Marsh - pad save 5-hole by Yacey
Kenning - R pad save JT
Park (Boo!) - stick save on deke by Yacey
Howard - R pad save JT
Nightingale - stick save by Yacey
Carrihill - butterfly pad save JT
Dakai - poke checked by Yacey
Yes, we have gone through the entire 9-man Tuck roster, and Johnson goes again...
Johnson - backhand deke for the game winner!

Final Score: Tuck wins 4-3 in a LOOOOONG shootout after an entertaining 3-3 regulation tie.

Final Tally: Tuck D Chris Johnson had 2A in regulation and the game winner in the shootout! The Nords were led by Ian Coates who had 1G, 1A and forced the shootout with the Nords' third goal.

Final Analysis: If the Nords were asking for a better night to upset Tuck they won't get it again this season. Tuck's short bench was ripe for the picking and the Nords had 2 extra players to skate them into the ice... but it didn't happen, although the Nords came back and forced the shootout. Tuck's short bench actually helped them as first in line and GWG scorer Chris Johnson was able to have two shootout attmepts and he scored on his second to end it with a 4-3 SO victory. Both goalies put on a clinic in the shootout, but that is in part thanks to some pathetic shootout attempts! I thought this was the "A" league...

McD
LEAGUE PICK 'EM
 50%
Nordiques
50% 
Tuck
6 PICKS
THREE STARS

Daniel Yacey

GA: 3
SAVES: 29
SAVE%: 0.906

John Turner

GA: 3
SAVES: 18
SAVE%: 0.857

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