Round 2

Finally got my first Ice playoff win on Tuesday @ Ice Castle. It was a very tightly contested game and we won 6-4. I was, unfortunately, kind of nervous going into the game as my last three Ice playoff games ended in disaster. I played very well though and stopped 6 or 7 breakaways/partial breakaways. Here is a breakdown of the game:

Movement: Solid up and down movement all game. Good positioning and swift transitions. Felt very comfortable.

Rebound control: Mixed. Did give up a fair number of rebounds, but kept them close to me and was able to smother most of them. Others I kicked out to the boards effectively. There were a few that were dangerous, but I was fortunate not to have been stung by any of them.

Puckhandling: Made one gaffe, but again fortunately did not have to pay for it.

Endurance: No problems at all. Felt strong all game.


Now a breakdown of the goals/saves.

Goal 1: One-timer from a player all alone less than 4 feet out from the goal. 5-hole. Could have possibly gone into butterfly sooner, but it was a very quick play.
Goal 2: Re-direct scramble in front of goal. 5-hole (kind of?). Puck was clearly frozen between my skates in a narrow butterfly, but no whistle was blown and the attacking player was allowed to slash at my skates to free the puck and put it in the net.
Goal 3: Partial breakaway. Over blocker. Attacker chipped puck over defenders stick, got around him, then chipped it again and it barely went over my blocker and inside the post. Just a great play by the attacker.
Goal 4: Total breakdown. I totally lost sight of the puck and thought it was coming towards the boards. Somehow it went back to the player who skated around 3 players and basically put it in an empty net since my attention was elsewhere. I'll take 100% blame for that one.

Big Saves:

There were a few. The most crucial one was on a breakaway with the score tied 4-4 in the 3rd period. The attacker was coming in VERY slow. He was able to finally get me to go to my left a little and then he deked back right. I was able to stop myself just enough to get my right toe out and rob him. There were a couple others, but I'd rather focus more on analyzing the goals scored.

So in conclusion it felt very very good to get the win. Championship game is two Sundays from now. I hope to have another solid performance and let my team take care of the rest.