November 4: Flames 3 @ Bulldogs 2

Whew! What a spirited hockey game down at Hallenborg Arena in Billerica, MA tonight. The Flames, playing their second road game of the day, and down three regular players, could have mailed this one in and let the pieces fall where they may. Unless, of course, this team is made up of competitors, who play for each other, get each other’s back, and aren’t afraid to push their own compete level. As it turns out, the Flames did anything but rollover, even playing on the road in the backyard of Billerica hockey legends, Tom Fitzgerald, Tom Glavine (yes, that Tom Glavine), and Bob Miller.

The first period looked bleak for the visiting Flames as the Bulldogs jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. The Flames didn’t appear ready for the pace and physicality of the contest over the first ten minutes or so. Then, some signs of life were shown as Jackson Puzzo, Patrick Goren, Sean Moore, Christian Levesque and Rene Morin created some scoring chances for the Flames. Regardless, the period ended with the Bulldogs holding a 2-0 lead on the score board, and an 11-8 advantage in shots on goal. Worthy of note, each team was penalized four times in the first period. To capture the tone, all the penalties were matching, and five of the eight were for hitting after the whistle. There was no love lost on the ice tonight.

The second period had even more intensity than the first period, minus the penalties. Instead of matching penalties and hitting after the whistle, the officials swallowed their whistles and called just two minors, one to each team. The teams figured it out and played physical hockey the rest of the way. The Flames couldn’t sustain much offensively, although they were starting to match the aggressive play of the Bulldogs when the game turned in a moment. While skating hard, and back checking, Sam Hebert gently nudged an unsuspecting Bulldog forward off of the puck. The forward lost the puck and his balance, falling awkwardly on Flames, defenseman, Ashlie Killen’s left leg. Play was stopped and Killen did not get up. She was helped off of the ice with 10:45 to play in the second period. Next, the Flames, now four players down, sent just three players out for the face off, while head coach Mike Bayer was in the locker room attending to Ashlie alongside her dad, and Flames, Super Team Mom, Melissa Goren. Realizing their error, the Flames added two skaters for the face off before the puck was dropped. After gathering a loose puck at center ice, Sam Hebert bolted for the offensive blue line at full speed. Just inside the line he let fly on a big slap shot as if to say this one is for Ashlie. The puck took off like a bullet, rising and spinning, as it grazed the goaltender’s glove on its way to the back of the net. The Flames were down 2-1, but not out. Hebert scored a few minutes later on the power play and the game was tied at 2 apiece. After an intensely competitive 30 minutes of play, the teams each had registered 5 penalties, 17 shots on net, and a pair of goals.

The third period saw both teams play well, and both teams stepped up the defense as well. Neither team wanted to allow the next goal. The Flames clogged the middle of the ice, defended passing lanes, and stepped into shooting lanes, not allowing a single shot on goal for more than 9 minutes to start the period. With five minutes to play, another Flame player went down, when Patrick Goren left the bench for the locker room after an apparent injury to his torso. Then, on an otherwise innocent play, goaltender, Anders Lindberg, made an easy save and directed the puck to defenseman, Sebastian Beal. Beal, recognizing that he had some room to skate carried the puck toward the blue line and made a clearing pass just as the fore-checking forwards pressured him. His clearing pass caromed perfectly off of the left-wing boards and onto the stick of Sam Hebert. Hebert raced up the ice and beat a surprised defenseman with his speed. As he hit the faceoff circle, cutting in from left-wing at full speed, Hebert let a wrist shot go and the shot found the net, just inside the far post. The Flames led 3-2 with 3:16 to play in the game, and the delegation of Flames fans let out a loud cheer in support of the comeback effort. The, now desperate, Bulldogs mounted a furious offensive attack over the final three minutes. With 1:10 left, they pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker and swarmed the offensive zone. Lindberg made a couple of tremendous saves en route to closing out the 3-2 victory. The Flames players yelled in celebration and raised their arms over their heads as they swarmed Lindberg at the sound of the final buzzer. This was a gutsy, intensely played, come from behind, team performance.

This Bulldog team is big, strong, and has several players with intimidating size. On their home ice, they were not afraid to throw their weight around and aggressively compete for every inch of their home ice surface. The Flames would not, and did not back down, especially after the injury to Killen. Flames forwards, Kyle O’Flaherty and Ryan Douthart, played as if the school bully was chasing them around the schoolyard. They skated hard; they competed for pucks, they back checked aggressively, and contributed mightily to this team win. Brendan Courtney and Sebastian Beal played sound defense, while stepping up and creating some offensive chances, as did Ashlie Killen before her injury. Puzzo and Levesque clogged the defensive end of the ice, making it difficult for the Bulldogs to connect on any kind of passing plays. Goren and Hebert didn’t back down from anyone and appeared to have plenty to say about it as the trash talking was visible, but fortunately not loud enough for us to hear. Rene Morin, who was called up from the Pee Wee Minor team to play defense played well and even was in on some great scoring chances. Sean Moore played his second solid game of the day, and single-handedly sustained offensive possession, working hard along the boards. Lindberg nabbed 23 of the 25 shots he faced and was a perfect 17 for 17 after falling behind 2-0. This was total team victory and the team showed a lot of resolve coming back from a 2-0 deficit to win on the road.

Now it’s time for some updates. Zachary Bayer is out indefinitely with a foot/ankle injury. Wil Hebert played this morning despite being quite ill. He did not skate tonight and is day-to-day. Ashlie Killen was taken to the ER at St. Joseph’s Hospital. Initial reports suggest that she has a sprained knee and may be out for at least a week or two. Patrick Goren was reported to have had the wind knocked out of him and was sporting some sore ribs. He was heard to say that he was hungry before leaving the rink, and might be just fine after a bite to eat.