Re-Cap: Everblades vs. Jackals (12/9/11)

After a disappointing loss on Wednesday, the Blades had to make a statement in Fridays game. Thankfully, they did.  Oh boy, did they.



The Blades came out running at full steam. You could almost taste their determination to win. It paid off early with a power play goal for David Rutherford about one minute into the period (assists to Beca and Shugg).  About eight and a half minutes later, the Jackals would tie it up on the power play 1-1.



Luckily, Ryan Galiardi notched his fifth of the season about three minutes later on an extended 5 on 3 to give the Blades the 2-1 lead (assists to Rutherford and Shugg). The rest of the period was uneventful, and the score remained 2-1 when both teams left the ice.

Just like last night the Everblades came to play in the second. They scored three goals and held the Jackals to their zone for most period. Ryan Galiardi scored his second of the game at 6:45 (assists to Pitt and Beca). Scott Pitt netted one of his own at 15:46 9 (assists to Galiardi and Beca). Oh, hey. Guess who got it on film?



Deron Cousens added one of his own at 18:34 (assists to Beca and Martin). That was the last of the goals for that period. There was some rough stuff in the closing minutes, but the Blades managed to come out on top penalty-wise. The score when the period ended was 5-1.

The Jackals tried their best to make something happen, but the Blades could not be stopped. About three minutes into the period, Matt Beca made it 6-1 (assists to Bruess and Donald). Elmira finally decided to give their goalie the hook after Beca's goal. Unfortunately, a little over a minute later, Mathieu Roy proved that no Jackals goalie was going to come between the Blades and the back of the net.



The Jackals were able to stop the bleeding... for awhile. At 15:22, Deron Cousens notched his second of the game to make it 8-1 (assist to Pitt). About three minutes after that, one of the Jackals beat Blades goalie Pat Nagle, but that didn't matter. The final score was 8-2. the Blades got a win they completely deserved.

The Gamesheet is here.

The photos I took:



Some thoughts:
- How amazing did the Blades look? I would gladly pay double if the team that played tonight would promise to show up every game. Heck, I probably wouldn't grumble about paying triple.
- I said we could beat Elmira's goaltender, and I was right. Excuse me while I sit smugly over here.
- Two goals each for Galiardi and Cousens. Nice to see everyone stepping up and contributing.
- Scott Pitt +5. Dude was everywhere, and it shows.
- Pat Nagle had 28 saves on 30 shots. A nice bounce back from last game.
- I guess Matt Beca isn't struggling anymore. 1 goal, 4 assists. Not bad at all Mr. Beca.
- I get the feeling that Saturday's game is going to be ugly. The officials were so determined to keep anything chippy from happening I wouldn't be surprised to see the pot boil over at some point. The Blades and Jackals are not friends.