Mar 17, 2017 | Jen Fletcher | 500 views
Down but Not Out
The Hawks opened their series against the Brantford 99ers at home on Thursday night.
Brantford came out strong and led 1-0 after the first period. Despite not getting on the board, the Hawks did a great job killing off some penalties in the first. On the penalty kill, Tyler Caswell did a great job handling and controlling the puck and skating with his head up. He was able to make a great outlet pass to Camden Schaefer along the boards at centre ice, and Schaefer got it into the offensive zone. Andrew Quarrie also had a great penalty kill shift, keeping the puck in the offensive zone thanks to his forechecking abilities. Ryan Silva was back from his concussion and looked like he hadn't missed a beat on the ice with the Hawks. Silva had a strong forecheck all game and was great in the face-off dot.
In the second period the Hawks tied it up. The line of Ben McGowan, Ryland MacPherson and Justin Vandervelde kept control of the puck deep in the 99ers' end and all crashed the net. MacPherson was able to stay with the puck and tap it in. The Hawks really kept pushing offensively. Liam Lapierre held the puck in at the line and had a great shot on net which Ryland MacPherson tipped but the goalie was able to glove. It was the perfect shot and tip. The Hawks were doing a better job keeping the puck in the offensive zone during the second. Camden Schaefer was able to control the puck behind the net. When Brantford tried to clear the puck on one play, Tyler Caswell slide/dove back up to the blue line to keep the puck in. Unfortunately, Brantford was able to get another goal in the second and the Hawks once again found themselves down by a goal.
In the third period there was some more good offense by the Hawks. Ben McGowan had a great feed out in front of the net, but the Hawks just couldn't get a stick on to convert. On the defensive end, the Hawks had some strong plays from Nathan Lahey again as well as Parker Campbell. With 4:30 left on the clock the 99ers were able to go up 3-1, but there was still time and the fans were still cheering for their Hawks to make a come-back. In the end, Brantford would score an empty net goal and win 4-1.
Despite the score, Reggie Gignac had another great game in net. He made some amazing saves each period to keep the score within reach.
The Hawks will look to tie the series in Brantford on Saturday afternoon.
The Firefighter helmets for this game went to Liam Lapierre and Ben McGowan.