The third period was the difference maker, for the Tommies, in Saturday’s pre-season match against Universite de Moncton; held in Grand Falls, New Brunswick.
After the first two periods, the game was tied 2-2 and the momentum seemed to be swinging Moncton’s way.
Early in the third, Tommies forward Mike Reich took a high-sticking penalty, putting Moncton on the power play. It was during this power play that Matt Eagles rushed from his own end to catch up with a loose puck behind the Moncton defense. Eagles went in on a breakaway and squeaked the puck through the goalie’s five-hole.
The shorthanded goal turned the tide for the Tommies. Goals by Jason Cassidy and Corey Banfield gave the team some insurance; as they went on to win 5-2.
“I think we trust each other more this year,” says Tommies forward Matt Eagles. “I found last year, when we got into trouble, guys would go their separate ways and try to do too much. But now, when we get into trouble, we pull together as a unit, and you saw that here tonight.”
It looked like the Tommies were going to run away with the game in the second period. Yuri Cheremetiev and Corey Banfield both scored early in the frame, giving the Tommies a 2-0 lead. But Moncton came back to tie the game; capitalizing on the Tommies’ defensive mistakes. Both goals resulted from turnovers in their own zone.
Although the Tommies offense stole the spotlight in the third, a lot of credit should be given to the penalty killers. The game was rough, physical, and chippy; resulting in a steady parade to the penalty box for both teams. But Moncton was unable to capitalize a single time when the Tommies were shorthanded.
“We worked on it [the penalty kill], really, for the first time this week in practice,” says Head Coach Mike Eagles. “I thought the forwards and the defense did a good job and our goalie stood tall when we needed him too.”
Down 4-2, Moncton’s best chance came with eight minutes left in the game. Tommies defenseman David Crossman was given a major penalty for kneeing, giving Moncton a five minute power play. But the Tommies stifled Moncton’s offensive attack with their best penalty kill of the night.
The men’s hockey team now has two wins and one loss in the pre-season; scoring 17 goals in the process.
