UPPER VALLEY HOCKEY LEAGUE

Tuck a Cluck, Chicken and a Duck....oh and Dead River Too.

ODDS:	Tuck by 2 goals
OVER/UNDER:	8 goals

The Tuckies have a history this season of playing to the level of their opponents. With a split to the top ranked Gamblers(4-3 win & 4-1 L), a thrashing of a very good Nordiques team 10-2, and then tight games against the bottom 3 teams. They escaped with a 5-4 shootout win over Dead River in week 2, a 5-4 win over the Brewers and a close 5-2 win over the Whalers two weeks ago.

Dead River has two wins this season both against the lowly Whalers. Other than that, they've given up a shit-ton of goals, played horrible defense and permanently ruined the confidence of their netminder, Greg "Frustrated" Feiden.

Dead River has all of the tools, just no follow through. The only high point is Ricky "No Pass" Golden who's scored 10 goals in 5 games this season. DR has let up 40 goals in 6 games while only scoring 22.

Both teams should be hurting this week for numbers. Tuck's players have finals this week and will be travelling for the holiday, while Dead River's wives have a 9:00pm curfew for most of their players.

Tuck will play down to Dead River, keeping it close....Tuck wins it 5-3.

Tuck Outlasts Dead River, 4-3

Two teams with roster issues faced off in the late game tonight. The Tuck Business School Turduckens are officially on Thanksgiving break this week, while Dead River has issues fielding a team past 9pm.

Tuck required the most help, pulling in a substitute goaltender and two extra skaters. Filling in between the pipes was Jeremy "B-League Superstar" Seidling who was excellent turning away 42 of 45 shots. This was Seidling's second game of the night, as he also played net for the Brewers who were without their netminder.

The UVHL's saddest story, Greg "First Period" Feiden, was back between the pipes for Dead River tonight, and Thank God, for his mental stability...Tuck was without their big guns. Feiden has seen his GAA slip from a respectable 3.07 last year when he was with the Gamblers, to a dismal 6.29 GAA this season with Dead River.

The UVHL penalty leading Dead River squad(62 PIMs in 7 games) started things off on the right foot with a pair of early penalties to Greg "Twisted Steal" Hadley & Garren "-teed Penalty" Poirier. The penalties were only 32 seconds apart, giving Tuck a perfect opportunity to open the game up, but the ensuing power plays were dismal at best, generating very little before resolution.

Despite the lack of scoring, the penalties on Dead River may have still been beneficial, tiring out an already shortened Dead River bench. The exhaustion definitely played a part as Tuck scored a pair of late goals by "B" league callup Claus "Killer" Eckbo. Eckbo looked excellent, crashing the net for both goals, jamming home a rebound on the first and hammering home a backdoor pass on the second past Feiden. Tuck may want to look into bringing up Eckbo permanently, seeing that he has scored 4 goals in 2 games this season for the big club.

Dead River got on the board with 1:27 to play when "Mean" Dean Cashman found Chris Warrington coming in from the point to beat Seidling with a quick low shot.

END OF THE FIRST: Tuck 2, Dead River 1

The second period started off slowly just like the first. No penalties or goals until 6:26 when Jason "Harvard" Yehle & Evan "The Dude" Duggan headed to the box for 2 minutes apiece. The penalties were supposed to offset each other and keep the game going 5 on 5, but due to the short benches Dead River's captain asked if the teams could play 4 on 4 instead of 5 on 5. Tuck agreed, and it ended up benefiting the Tuckies as "Super" Steve Kenning, half goalie half forward, scored a goal with the extra ice.

"Mean" Dean Cashman made another beautiful pass to a defenseman sneaking in, as Duggan brought Dead River back within a goal with 3:23 remaining in the second period. Another defenseman netted a tally when Jordy "Barnacle" Barnett scored with only 8 seconds remaining in the second period to return Tuck's 2 goal lead.

END OF THE SECOND: Tuck 4, Dead River 2

The third period saw some good action, with Feiden & Seidling making huge saves to keep the game close. Feiden turned away 16 of 16 shots and Seidling let in 1 of 17 shots. The only blemish for Seidling came on a back door pass from Warringto to Duggan for his 5th of the season, and a goal that Seidling didn't have a chance on.

With Dead River down by a goal, Barnett took a slashing penalty on a Dead River forward who split the defense and was heading to the net. Barnett's penalty came with 1:49 to play, giving The Dead River Rats a chance to tie the game on the powerplay, but the penalty also gave Tuck the opportunity to ice the puck without punishment.

Dead River couldn't convert on the powerplay, ending the game in a 4-3 win for Tuck. Both teams were missing key cogs to their hockey machines, but the loss of players definitely benefitted Dead River the most. Dead River is getting better, but they still are not on par with a full Tuck squad. At least this one game gave Dead River a slight boost in their goals against average.

 

Team:	Time:	Type:	Player:	Details:
1st PERIOD
LAB	12:54	Penalty	Hadley, Gregory(3)	2 minutes for Holding
LAB	12:12	Penalty	Poirier, Garren(8)	2 minutes for Hooking
TCK	04:20	Goal	Eckbo, Claus(3)	Assist(s): Barnett, Jordan(4)
TCK	02:07	Goal	Eckbo, Claus(4)	Assist(s): Kenning, Steve(2)
LAB	01:27	Goal	Warrington, Chris(3)	Assist(s): Cashman, Dean(6)
2nd PERIOD
LAB	06:26	Penalty	Duggan, Evan(5)	2 minutes for Hooking
TCK	06:26	Penalty	Yehle, Jason(5)	2 minutes for Holding
TCK	05:44	Goal	Kenning, Steve(1)	Assist(s): Barnett, Jordan(5) Howard, Scott(1)
LAB	03:23	Goal	Duggan, Evan(4)	Assist(s): Cashman, Dean(7)
TCK	00:08	Goal	Barnett, Jordan(3)	Assist(s): Kenning, Steve(3)
3rd PERIOD
LAB	09:48	Goal	Duggan, Evan(5)	Assist(s): Warrington, Chris(4)
TCK	01:49	Penalty	Barnett, Jordan(3)	2 minutes for Slashing

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