Dec 29, 2012 | SCorrigan | 328 views
Christmas Tournament: Day 1 Recap
The highlight of Week 14 may have been a visit by Santa Claus but the games on day 1 of the Christmas tournament were pretty special as well. In such an unforgiving 2 game round robin format there are often surprises and heart break. Day One belonged to the Flyers, with the Penguins and Bruins taking care of business, whereas the Sharks, Leafs and Habs are left in must win situations for Saturday's slate of games.
The Flyers came out flying in both there games and were rewarded with an 8-3 win over the Leafs and a 4-1 win over the Sharks. In their first game they jumped out to a commanding 3-0 lead and never looked back. 10 different players recorded a point, which is fantastic. The crowning moment perhaps was the goal late in the game by Logan McCubbin, his first of the campaign, since his reaction was so genuine. In the second game the Flyers took control of the game over the Sharks after a tied first period and cruised to a 4-1 win. The offense in large part in this game came from Cameron Bonneville (1g and 1a) and Logan Kennedy (2g).
The two wins by the Flyers secured first place in pool B and they have to await the results of Saturday's game to determine their opponent in the one semi final on Sunday.
The Bruins were the other team to play a pair of games on day one and both games were very close. They won the first match against the Habs 4-3 and the fell in the second one to the Penguins 3-2. The first game was back and forth. Devon Taylor (2g) opened the scoring in the first and netted the winner in the third, yet it was the play of Martina Incitti in goal that kept the Bruins in this game during the second period. The second game against the Penguins saw the Bruins come out flat and fall behind 3-0. However, by the middle of the second they found their legs and began to push the Penguins hard getting the puck deep in the zone and cycling with it. The Palin siblings, Bryn (2g) and Auldin (2a), brought their team within striking distance late in the third. It looked very much like the last time these two teams met when the Bruins scored the game tying goal with seconds to go; however, there was no repeat on this day as Penguins slammed the door.
As for the Penguins, they remain the class of the division at a little more than the mid way point of the season. Their total team speed was very evident as they were all over the Bruins early on. Indeed, it had the makings of a blow out till the Bruins came to life. With the momentum clearly shifted late in the game it was not the Penguins high powered offense that was the story on this day but rather the defense. Calm and collected plays by John Bulten and Sam Fleury late in the game helped preserve the win. For the Penguins the road to the semi finals is clear if they win on Saturday versus the Habs.
As for the Habs, they certainly lost a close one to the Bruins. A pair of familiar faces carried the offensive load for the Habs as Alex Moon (3g) and Conor Short (2a) continued to show their chemistry on the ice. Indeed, this may have been on of the rare games this season where the 3 goal rule (in regulation) impacted a team as Alex was clearly the best player on the ice and had to pass up some scoring chances in the third. For the Habs the situation on Saturday is simple yet complicated. If they lose to the Penguins, they are off to the the consolation game; yet, if they win, all three teams in Pool A would be 1-1 and a series of complicated tie breakers would come in to play.
The Leafs deserved better than their 8-3 loss, although they would be the first to not offer excuses. 3 of the goals took crazy bounces off player skates, a 4th goal certainly looked offside and their was an empty net. Anton Klepp scored in his second straight game and Brady Read added a goal and an assist. Nonetheless, the story for the Leafs was the gutsy call made by the bench to pull their goalie with about 3 minutes to play to try and erase a 3 goal deficit.
The Sharks were fighting the flu bug on the day and had a depleted roster. By the third period they were down to 7 healthy skaters. Still they were in this. Janson Duench had a highlight reel goal to tie the game in the first. Then, late in the second when down 2-1 Dylan Corrigan scored what looked like the tying goal; however, it was called back on an obvious offside. Still, the Sharks were not happy as they felt they let the game slip away in the third.
The Leafs and the Sharks meet up on Sunday with the stakes being clear: the winner goes to the semi finals and the loser goes to the consolation game. In the season series the Leafs have the clear edge with a 2-0-1 mark but the pressure is on both teams.