With Christmas celebrations and flu bugs behind them the Storm would face the Petrolia Oilers on home ice. The Atom AE Storm would hold their own for the majority of the game. Travis Morningstar would be solid between the pipes and Ryan Nicholson would get his first opportunity of the season to attempt a penalty shot.
To begin the first period, the Storm would find themselves shaking off their turkey dinners in their own end, but it didn't take long for the Storm to take control. The team worked hard for the remainder of the 1st and created a number of scoring opportunities. Morningstar and his defensemen (Clark, Crowley, Munday and Lahey) were ready and able when called upon. At the end of the 1st period the score was deadlocked at 0.
The second period saw some back and forth action with the momentum shifting more in the favour of the Oilers. The Oilers were able to find the back of the net twice making the score 2-0 after 2 periods.
Midway through the 3rd, Ryan Nicholson would find himself free and clear with nothing between he and net except the goalie. As Nicholson got closer to the net, a Petrolia skater would haul him down from behind, resulting in penalty shot. With the Oilers leading 2-0 at this point, he would have the opportunity to cut the lead in half. Nicholson would stick handle his way towards the goalie moving from side to side. Ryan would draw the goalie over to his right side and with the puck still on his stick would find the empty net on the backhand narrowing the score to 2-1. The Storm would hold the Oilers to the 2-1 lead until late in the 3rd when Petrolia would find the back of the net. The Oilers would add to their lead with a couple more goals late in the 3rd to ensure themselves the win.
The Storm proved to themselves and the coaching staff that if they work hard like they did for the first half of the game that they can compete with teams in the Shamrock league.
With little rest, the team will take the ice tomorrow (Sunday) evening for a practice at 5:10 to prepare for their final three games (all on the road) of the regular season.