Dec 22, 2012 | dturner | 351 views
Storm Blanked In Wallaceburg
The Storm travelled south down Hwy. 40 to play the Wallaceburg Lakers on Saturday afternoon. On a day where Wallaceburg honoured hometown boy, Seth Griffith (of the OHL London Knights), the hometown Lakers did their best to impress the OHL'er by handing it to the visiting Storm by a final score of 5-0. Both goalies (Brant & Gladwish) shared time in net for the Storm in a rougher game that saw its' fair share of penalties delivered to both sides.
After the ceremonial puck drop between captains and Seth Griffith, the Storm came out of the gates with some pretty good pressure from all three forward lines, as the first half of the period saw some evenly matched play. However, midway through the 1st period, the Storm were delivered the first of many penalties on the day, for tripping. The Wallaceburg PP would convert, as a Laker forward found the loose puck in the crease and put it in before it could be covered up by starting goalie Ben Brant. After a good chance from Hunter Seguin was steered aside by the opposing netminder, the Lakers' captain took the puck all the way down to the other end and buried his shot, to put the home team up 2-0 going into the 2nd period.
The two teams seemed to be developing a genuine dislike for one another, as evidence from some rough stuff in front of both nets, which would see coincidental minors being delivered to each side for slashing. Later on, the Lakers would be assessed a tripping minor as Lucas Rodey was taken down while trying to drive the puck toward the Wallaceburg net. The Storm PP unit had a couple good chances to convert, as the forwards crashed the net looking for the loose puck, but were unable to jam it home. Unfortunately, it would be the Lakers' PK unit that would get on the board to make the score 3-0, and prompt the coaches to make a change in net, as Colin Gladwish came in relief. The penalties continued, as the next one would go to the Storm for being a little too aggressive on the fore-"check". The Storm PK unit did a great job to kill off the penalty, and managed to generate a few scoring chances of their own. Nearing the end of the frame, as the penalty expired, Logan Forbes came on the ice where he nearly got the Storm's first goal of the game on a buzzer beater chance that just stayed out.
Any momentum garnered by the Storm in the late stages of the 2nd period would be taken back by the home team, as the Lakers forward went through four Storm players enroute to the net, where he cashed in his opportunity, making the score 4-0 in the first minute of the 3rd frame. The rough stuff continued in the 3rd, as the Lakers were assessed two minors (body check & slashing) within 15 seconds, and sent the Storm to an extended 5-on-3 PP. Unfortunately, the PP couldn't seem to get anything going, as the Storm struggled to connect on their passing. The PP opportunity would come and go with the Storm still trailing by four goals. The Lakers would add more salt to the wounds, midway through the final frame, as the Wallaceburg captain scored one more to make the final score 5-0.
The Storm don't have long to dwell on this one, as they play host to Mt. Brydges tomorrow afternoon. Lets see you boys tame some Cougars for the holidays.