Week 6: Mark It Zero vs. Da Bulls
Steve didn’t play against Da Bulls the last time we faced them because of what I am now calling a season-opening 2-game suspension. Describing them as an opponent, I told him that they were a step down from Nice Marmot, the only team to beat us so far this season. We only beat Da Bulls by a goal officially, but we did allow some soft last-minute goals at the end of that one, so it wasn’t truly as close as the score suggests.
Arriving at the rink, we noticed that the Green Hornets beat Nice Marmot, giving them one loss and moving us into a tie for 1st Place. How they did it I’ll never know, but it gives us promise for next week’s game…
VS DA BULLS
We’ve been a horrible first-period team. In this game, however we provided some good pressure on them right off the bat. In the first shift we put on a great display of passing and got some quality opportunities. Since the 2nd line was waiting for Todd to come to the rink straight from landing at Burbank Airport, I double-shifted and found myself on a 2-on-1 with Andy. I threaded a saucer pass over to him and he re-directed the pass into the top-right corner. Effortless beauty.
Not sure what led to the next goal, but Darren ended up with the puck right in the slot. I had set up a nice screen on the goaltender and he couldn’t see a thing. Darren shot it into the right side of the net.
Miller was the beneficiary of one of Derek’s rushes*. Derek’s a defenseman who likes to get involved offensively and waited until the very last minute to feed Miller right off the right post. Steve buried it as he’s quickly become the Mark It Zero Closer.
After the 1st period, the score read 3-1 MIZ. It seems trivial, but based on the opening periods we’ve had in games past this is a marked improvement.
The 2 goals the Bulls scored in this game weren’t truly earned, in my opinion, as they were flukey tallies. I don’t remember the specifics, as it took me a little while to write this recap, but they were goals that just shouldn’t happen. We also knew that Justin was feeling it this game. The shots were even 33-32, but the Bulls’ shot selection was poor. All too often, they’d put themselves at an unfavorable angle, and we were playing good team defense.
After Todd got a tally in the 2nd, we were weathering a rush in our own end, with the 2nd period winding down. They were urgently pinching 4 guys down low on the goaltender. Justin came up with a couple of huge saves, and the rebound squirted out to me. 2-on-1 - myself and the Closer. The defender handled the situation rather well, staying in the middle, then favoring Miller. He was giving me the shot, and the goaltender was playing the shot. I really felt that I could fit the puck through so it would sail over the defender’s stick and land in time so it wouldn’t overshoot Miller. I saucered the pass through, right onto the Closer’s stick. BOOM! One-timed into the back of the net.
Penalties were called pretty fairly this game. Juke got a roughing penalty for hitting some fool**, then followed it up with an unsportsmanlike conduct for giving the ref an earful afterwards. He felt that the guy dived, and told the ref to give him a Speedo. Nothing’s more frustrating and disgraceful than seeing somebody take a dive. I don’t honestly believe that somebody would dive in this league, but I didn’t see the play. I think Juke is averaging 2 penalties a game (15 Penalty Minutes in just 4 games). One of these days I’m going to post a video of what he can do with his nose.
Andy added another goal in the 3rd to cap off a great game: 2g, 2a. Miller gets an honorable mention with his 2g.
Final Score: 6-2, the good guys.
CLOSE CALLS: As always, there were close calls in this one but none that were so obviously boneheaded miscues. One defensive close call was Miller throwing the puck into the middle of the ice (a defensive zone abomination), sending one of their guys in alone on Justin, but Justin picked Miller up with another routinely incredible save. This guy leads the league in save percentage.
Next up is Nice Marmot: The Rematch. Last game against them, I had perhaps a career high 6 points. Following up with a similar production would be nice, but a win - nicer.
*Derek has made a habit of rushing the puck often. This is encouraged, but it seems he’ll go to great lengths to keep the puck to himself. I’ll continue to get open but one time Miller gave up skating because he knew he wouldn’t pass (despite the goal they collaborated on). Derek didn’t pass, but after the play, he apparently looked at Steve with his hands in the air wondering why he stopped playing. Steve thinks the pass he made across the net on their goal was mistaken for a bad-angle shot.
**You’re not allowed to hit in men’s leagues. You can use your body to guide people places and bump a bit, but yeah you can’t blow people up. This was a significant part of my game when I played back in the day, and it’s tempting to catch people’s heads down.
stats (season)
