I described much of the first half of this game as Goffstown playing not to lose. Almost like they were waiting for the other shoe to drop. They powered through and played like a team that had each other’s backs, and that served them well. The Grizzlies were able to add a pair of third period goals and skate to a solid, 4-1 win.
The BearCats turned open ice into breakaway goals and half ice celebrations en route to a 7-1 destruction of the visiting Goffstown Grizzlies on Saturday night. Goffstown could not cash in on any of their power play opportunities and were never really in the game from the beginning.
The Oyster River Bobcats came to town on Wednesday night for a game with Goffstown. Goffstown came in to play with an 8-5-1 record while Oyster River entered at 9-3-0, so a win for the Grizzlies could allow them to gain on teams ahead of them in the Division II Standings.
For roughly 13 minutes the Grizzlies were holding their own against St. Thomas, trailing by a goal and getting as many shots on goal as their guests. Then the Saints scored a goal that included a player stick handling on his knees. The goal gave the visitors a 2-0 lead with less than two minutes left in the first period. What Goffstown didn’t know at the time was that they would only get 5 more shots on goal once the first period ended.
Dover scored just 22 seconds into the game, and never trailed en route to a 7-2 win over Goffstown. The win brought Dover’s record up to 6-6-1 on the season while Goffstown dropped to 8-4-1. Dover won the D-II Title in OT last season and despite a record that might appear to be lackluster, they are a very good team. They opened the season by playing 7 of their first 10 games against teams that are currently in the top 4 of the division and the top team in D-III.
For the second half of the weekend, the 2010 Flames headed up to northern New Hampshire with stops in Plymouth and Berlin. It was a beautiful, winter wonderland the further north we went. With the miles, the scenery, and the time spent getting to and from, all part of the experience, it was a long day with plenty of excitement and upbeat moments. As for the games, well, the Flames were doused and brought down to earth, losing three of four games over the weekend.
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.
On Saturday, what had been my full schedule for the day, which included my daughters’ figure skating, two youth hockey games, and one high school hockey game, were reduced to exactly zero events. We never even left the house, except to play in the snow. The snowstorm that caused blizzard conditions on the coast of New England dumped enough snow in Southern NH to wipe out pretty much all scheduled events, and also postponed Goffstown Hockey’s Senior Night events until the next day.
On Wednesday afternoon at West Side Arena the Goffstown Grizzlies played a road game for the 6th time in their last 7 games. And the old rink on Electric St. was as cold as I can ever remember it. Something to do with the weather outside, the compressors inside, and maybe my age. It was cold, I heard it from people all over the rink. The ice was rock hard and fast. The game was highly contested at times, especially down the stretch.