Written by The 2010 Flames hit the road for four games away from Manchester this weekend. Today it was a morning trip to Hudson, NH and then an evening visit to Randolph, Ma. Tomorrow they hit the north country of New Hampshire. In Hudson this morning, the Flames skated to a 4-2 win. Tonight, though they ran into a feisty Crimson squad that out-skated the Flames, and upset them, 2-1.
Travis calls this a 2-on-no chance.
The 2010 Flames scored first in the morning affair when Andy Soucy ripped a backhand shot from beside the net into the net after Finley Dunn extracted the puck from the corner, and moved it over to Soucy. The Flames took a 1-0 lead to the intermission. Manchester scored again early in the second period, to take a 2-0 lead. Jordan Hawkes moved the puck to Gavin Petrie on the right wing. Petrie’s centering pass hit a defender’s skate and caromed at a right angle and into the slot area, right on Logan McCain’s stick. McCain shot quickly but the shot was blocked. Logan pounced on the puck immediately and fired the puck into the back of the net. The Cyclones answered a minute later when the Flames defense was caught out of position, leading to a 2-on-1 break. With a little more than half of the game left, the Flames lead was cut to, 2-1. With 6:15 left in the middle period, Travis Ingalls came out, and Will Rosenbeck entered the game in net.
The Cyclones ended up with numerous chances to score and tie the game over the balance of the second period, but the Flames only bent. They, with Will in net, did not break. The period ended with the Flames hanging on to a 2-1 lead. The Flames started the final period by holding the puck in the offensive zone for the first minute but had nothing to show for it. Then the Cyclones got the puck out of the zone and moved it with speed. They turned the play into a 2-on-1 and scored on a gorgeous backhand shot to tie game at 2-2. A bad pinch, and a sluggish back check allowed the Cyclones to execute their own beautiful hockey into the tying goal. So, with 10:48 left to play in the game, the score was knotted, 2-2.
Once in awhile the Flames got some offense together. Here they get after the puck.
With 8:04 left in the game, Soucy stole the puck along the boards at the blue line and moved into the offensive zone. As he approached the net, Andy lifted a backhand shot, bar down, for the go ahead goal for the Flames. It was a beauty! Almost five minutes later the Flames finally broke through and padded their lead. The Cyclones wrapped the puck around the boards but the puck didn’t get by Logan McCain. McCain threw the puck toward the slot where it hit Garrett Warren in the leg. Warren settled the puck and slid it toward the crease. Cam Desruisseaux basically redirected the puck from Warren and found the net, giving the Flames a 4-2 lead with just over three minutes left to play in the game. The Flames held the lead, and won the game, 4-2.
On Saturday evening, the Flames arrived in Randolph, Mass. for a battle with the Crimson Hockey Club. This Crimson Club entered play in 3rd place in the Lower Gold standings, just 3 points behind the Flames. This Crimson team can skate and in the first period, they took full advantage of the Flames sluggish start by dominating play. Although, the period would end with the Flames only trailing, 1-0. Much of that had to do with Travis Ingalls making some serious saves for the Flames including a 2-on-0 that he turned into a 2-on-no chance.
Will and the defense hold down the fort in the final period, against the Crimson.
The Flames did get better as the game went on, but they still were unable to separate themselves from their opponents for more than a few seconds at a time. The Flames went on the power play almost midway through the period and turned it into a shorthanded goal against and a 2-0 deficit. The Flames’ spacing was all over the place and everywhere they turned, the Crimson had a skater battling for the puck. Late in the second period, while shorthanded themselves, the Flames scored to cut the lead to, 2-1. The Cyclone wrapped the puck around the boards, and Logan McCain stepped in to make a play on the puck which he did. He shot the puck toward the net and Andy Soucy was struck by a rebound with the puck bouncing right to Teddy Beal who slipped the puck into the open side of the net.
In the final period the Flames finally got some chances on a rather consistent basis, but it was too little too late, and not very crisp either. The visitors had a power play and then some time with an extra attacker when Will Rosenbeck was pulled from the net, and during these times, the Flames had some pretty sweet scoring chances, but tonight was not the night for comebacks. The Crimson earned a 2-1 win.
I did hear some Crimson players and their parents talking on the way out of the rink, and each of them spoke of the team playing tonight’s game like it was a playoff game. I thought the same thing.
This was early in the game, and Travis made the save.
Which might be great news for the Flames because any complacency in their game was certainly exposed this evening. The 2010 Flames cannot expect to run through the motions and get wins at this point in the season.
Tomorrow the Flames travel to Plymouth and Berlin for a pair of games in the Granite State League. These games are very important for tournament seeding. The Flames are hoping that the team gets a great night’s rest tonight and shows up ready to play tomorrow.
-
- My probation officer reminded me to stay off of corners like this one. Good call.
-
- Opening face-off and Travis, like me, takes it all in.
-
- Both teams go to their benches for the intermission. Coach Nick gets the team revved up. Meanwhile, the Powers designation catches a well-timed snooze.
-
- The Flames put the puck toward the net and this one skipped just wide.
Team scoring: Saturday morning.
Cyclones: 0-1-1 = 2
Flames: 1-1-2 = 4
Flames scoring: Soucy from Dunn, McCain from Petrie and Hawkes, Soucy unassisted, Desruisseaux from Warren and McCain.
Travis Ingalls and Will Rosenbeck each allowed a single goal in the game. They both played well and always seem to erase mistakes made up ice by their teammates. Great tandem effort, again.
Team scoring: Saturday night.
Crimson: 1-1-0 = 2
Flames: 0-1-0 = 1
Flames scoring: Beal from Soucy and McCain.
Travis Ingalls (2 goal allowed) and Will Rosenbeck (0 goals allowed). Travis made some huge saves in the first period to keep this game from being a blowout. The Flames got better as the game went on, and their goaltending was the most steady part of their game.