One and One Weekend in Windsor
When a Spitfire defenseman tried to bodycheck puck carrier Shane O’Brien and put himself way out of position, Brent Kipfer took the puck and streaked in on net.
After being interfered with, not getting a shot away, and ending up in the goalie’s lap, all of the criteria had been met and the Lakers faithful began calling for a penalty shot. However, when the dust settled the puck was in the net - Boyer’s momentum had carried it over the goal line… 1-0 Lakers. Jesse De Groote made the first key defensive play of the game, clearing the puck from his own crease. At the other end, Ryan Watson and Jerry Ennett’s frenetic forechecking paid off with an Ennett pass and near miss Watson one-timer. The only mistake Lakers made this period was Eli Adair getting his stick in the way of a Spits skater who snapped it in half.
Early in the second period Jaden Goetz sacrificed his stick for the cause. Goalie Drew Reinhardt got some help from one of his posts and Garrett King made a big shot block. Brandon Priestap sent Jerry Ennett in for a shot on goal, Ryan Watson finished the play by deftly tipping the puck out of the air and into the net… 2-0 Lakers. Luckily the score stayed that way for awhile thanks to Reinhardt’s other post. Scott Coghlin made the defensive play of this period on a dangerous looking two on one, sliding on his belly to block the pass. Reinhardt’s biggest save of this period was stopping a partial breakaway. Brent Kipfer got his second goal of the game to secure a 3-0 lead with help from Jaden Goetz.
In the third period the Lakers took two penalties, the only two of the period, but penalty killers did their job. Scott Coghlin went coast to coast, made a nice move to get in at the goal but was denied. Drew Reinhardt got some more help, this time from his crossbar. With victory secured, the final minutes of the game were all about protecting Reinhardt’s shutout. Luke Salter did his part, intercepting a dangerous pass in the slot and sending it the length of the ice. Final score… 3-0 Lakers… 27 shot shut-out for #31!
Game #2 – Sunday
Hockey wisdom dictates that you’re not supposed to stickhandle while standing still but it worked for Jerry Ennett who shucked and jived through three checkers before snapping the puck at the right post. Windsor went ahead 2-0 in the first period, the first goal resulting from a failed clearing attempt, the second from a bullet which may have damaged JP Trudell’s water bottle.
In the second period Jerry Ennett captured the puck with his buzzsaw forechecking and dished it out to Ryan Watson for the backhand one-timer. Down one goal now the H-P squad was attacking and getting motivated by Trudell’s stellar play between the pipes. The nimble netkeeper made a huge save on a cross crease one-timer. With 2:46 left in the period a Spit skated from the penalty box into a clearcut breakaway but #1 stared him down. The play went right back up the ice and ended with a goalmouth scramble. Tyler Kettler was given credit for sending the puck over the line with assists to fellow scrummers Garrett King and Nick Boyer. Blame it on the travel or blame it on having to hang around Windsor all day for an 8 pm rematch, but after fighting back 2-2 the game went south for H-P. The Spits scored once more in the second and twice in the third for an eventual 5-2 victory.
