Sun Nov 19, 2017
Hockey
This was a fun game. Our opponents were a fast team and we had to play smart to keep pace, especially because we only had two lines. The entire game was played at a good pace but never got dirty or chippy. It helped us that our regular goalie was out of town and the replacement was really good. Otherwise I think it wouldn't have been a close game.
We opened the scoring about 5 minutes. I carried the puck down the left side and both defensemen came at me so I fed the puck to my winger who was wide open in front of the net and he chipped it over the goalie. However a minute later our opponents scored to make it 1-1. In the second period the action was back and forth and we traded goals again, ending the period 2-2.
In the third our opponents controlled more of the play but fell somewhat into the trap of their top players trying to do everything so he were able to contain them somewhat. It looked like we would end with a 2-2 tie when in the last minute our opponents really started pushing. They held the puck in our end for a while and had a few chances but our goalie made some big saves. Our winger picked up the puck and had a chance to clear but he tried to skate out of the zone, was stripped of the puck, and of course our opponents top scorer end up with the puck and scored with about 20 seconds left to win it 3-2.
It was disappointing to lose but overall it was a fun game. Playing a team like this really highlights that I've lost a step though. There were a few times where I thought I could blow by someone or get to a loose puck first but I don't have the jump I had before. I feel like it's a combination of the extra weight I'm carrying and the loss of strength. My conditioning is feeling better (i'm not totally gassed by the end of the game) so the next thing to fix is that lack of jump. That said, I've done well adjusting my game to focus more on position and passing so as a result I still have 7 points (2G, 5A) in 7 games and am playing well defensively.