It was a valiant effort put forth by the St. Thomas Tommies this evening but the talented Squirrels attack proved one bounce too many as STU fell 2 to 1 in overtime.
Charles Lavigne was stellar on this night as he turned aside 39 shots and stood on his head by times proving true his advanced billing as an AUS star in the making. Unfortunately the winning goal at :44 seconds of O/T was an unstoppable deflection.
After skating even with the Squirrels in a scoreless first period, the Tommies opened the scoring at 9:19 of the second period. Jason Cassidy notched his team leading fifth goal, firing home the rebound off a Devan Praught shot. Max Chamberland picked up the second assist.
The Tommies got into penalty trouble late in the second frame and UNB capitalized with the tying goal in the final minute. Credit has to be given to the strong penalty killing unit as STU killed 5 of 6 powerplays including a 47 second five on three, as well as a double minor in the first.
St. Thomas withstood UNB's relentless attack in the third period and gained a point by forcing overtime. In the tight AUS this may be an extremely valuable point when assessing the playoff picture.
Next up for the Tommies is St-FX on Friday night in Antigonish. Game time is 7 PM. The weekend will wrap up with a Halloween matinee at 2 PM Saturday in Halifax against the Dalhousie Tigers. Both games can be heard on 95.7 The Wolf. Daily Gleaner Story
Saying the Tommies skated with the Squirrels in the first is a bit generous to say the least...survived the first period might be a better way to put it seeing as good scoring chances were 9-1 for UNB by my count.
ReplyDeletethanks for the recap of the game,nice to have a great goalie and every point counts.see you in hali.
ReplyDeleteAnother step in the right direction,half a loaf is better than none and the crew demonstrated last night how to play with-in onesself as a Team and the PK was exceptional.
ReplyDeleteMaybe one too many untimely penalties but team play dedicated to a system which can only improve.
To hold the reigning Champs to an O/Y loss is monumental,who else has even come closwe? CONGRATULATIONS to all of the warriors.
I second what Mr. Collrin said. the PK was great and so was the team defence. Blocking shots, taking the body, and fighting for every inch.
ReplyDeleteUNB is one hell of a good team and everyone can agree on that so this makes the one point very impressive in my mind. Not bad when you don't dress Luke Lynes and J Kidd(hurt) and still play the way they do.
Lavigne did play well but he saw the shots most of the game so the guys did a great job.
Scott Judson came back to replace Main and was our best defenceman in our own 60 by blocking shots and not letting players to the front. Our team D was a LOT better than what has been shown so far this year, even with the shots being in UNB's favour by 27.
ReplyDeleteLavigne will be a fan favourite by the time Christmas hits.
first poster...dont be mad this wasnt a 8-0 runaway for UNB. STU skated with them and played air tight defense. UNB's only two goals were defensive breakdowns, basically the only 2 we gave up, thats how good UNB is. Juddy was a tank last night. I am sure everyone on the ice (referee included, did you see the blood gushing from his hand!!!) woke up sore this morning, and this is nothing but a confidence booster for STU
ReplyDelete~Tommies Video Guy~
45 Stitches for the referee to close the cut.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to him anyways? Never did notice...
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't even say UNB's second goal was a defensive breakdown...it was just bad luck.
ReplyDeleteAnd 40 shots to 14 is not skating with a team... it's surviving a team.
ReplyDeleteLast post and post #1 (i.e, the same person) The Tommies played almost a period short handed (18 minutes in penalties), which would account in part for the low shots on goal. And playing almost a period short handed against UNB is not surviving a team, it is skating with the team and more. Don't be afraid to give credit where credit is due. The only problem was taking too many penalties.
ReplyDeleteUNB Bruins Fan...my guess is that he got clipped by a skate. I remember him being in the middle of a puck battle in the Rum Row corner with about 5 players around him. And he got bandaged up the next play. Thats my guess.
ReplyDeletePoster above me, agree to disagree. I dont think it was surviving, it was strategy to not let UNB breate in the defensive zone because if they get a break, they will score. We got badly outshot, but we got a point out of it, which makes STU happy, and UNB got their 5th win, which makes them happy. Were all happy!
~Tommies Video Guy~
That was a great game last night.STU could have very easily won that game.They did a great job of keeping up with UNB,even on their PK.
ReplyDeleteCharles was great.Getting a point is better then nothing.Lookout the nexttime they play.
Yankee fan /Oilslick
There's a difference here.
ReplyDeleteThink of how many UNB shots were contained to the outside shooting lanes. I can only really remember maybe 5 or 6 times UNB had the puck in CLOSE to Charlie in possession.
STU had probably 3.
However, as mentioned, they spent almost a period in the box, and most of those powerplays were spent ENTIRELY in the STU zone. The only argument of STU 'surviving' UNB is there, on the PP/PK. Even strength STU was playing at just about the same clip. UNB controlled the play, but not by much.
Remember, STU was trapping a bit.
On another note, kudos to Luke Gallant, who had to have 35 mins in icetime and played extremely well on the UNB defence, including most of the 18 mins in powerplay time. I'm certain he played at least 3:30 of the Crossman 4 minute pp.