NAHL Day 5 - Leaders keep pace, jam in the middle

NAHL Day 5

All five teams that were tied for first or just off the pace won last night, while Sept-Iles' win vaulted them into a six-way tie for sixth.

Eboracum Sharpshooters 1, Londinium Royals 2: This is a rivalry game, and while it had its fair share of hard hits, trash talking, and jeering fans, it also featured some nice hockey. When the Sharpshooters turned it over in their own zone, Nico Nielsen passed it to Sheldon Cook cutting through the middle of the zone. He drew Wes Singleton towards one end of the net, then slipped the puck between his own legs before flipping it casually past a now out-of-position Singleton. That brought cheers from the Royals fans and an ocean of boos from a riled-up Eboracum crowd. When the Sharpshooters tied the game in the second period, the noise was deafening. But Eric Benson dampened their enthusiasm when in the third, he won the puck around the center line, slipped the puck by Sharpshooters d-man Gavin Kirkwood, causing Kirkwood to lose his stick, then avoided Kirkwood trying to skate into him, deked the goalie and fired the puck into the net on the opposite side for the winning goal. This young core for the Royals is outstanding.

Aquae Sulis Bears 0, Pons Aelius Steelers 2: The Bears had their two-game winning streak snapped by the Steelers, while Pons Aelius bounced back from a disappointing shootout loss to Mancunium. "We were too timid last night," remarked Steelers headman Porter Herman. "We let the Raiders' d-men push us around a little bit and got complacent. But our boys did well here. This was Steelers hockey tonight." In controlling the pace of play and limiting the Bears' offensive opportunities, holding off the forecheck of their opponents while methodically finding a weak point to snap home a shot, they did play Steelers hockey. At this point, they have not allowed a goal (save in a shootout) for four consecutive games, including two overtime periods. Hank Gross and Brooks Worrell scored in the first and second periods, respectively, to give the Steelers the win.

DC Oilers 1, Newfield Rangers 1 (2-1 OT): We'll give the Rangers this: for a team with only one win in five games, they have been surprisingly tough to beat. They've lost by only one goal to Isca Town, lost in a shootout to Aquae Sulis, and now took the Oilers to overtime. They have lacked the finishing punch to put teams away, and their third period play has been lacking, with just 30 shots on goal in those five third periods. Brady Dowell had an open shot with under five to go, but Ted Carpenter is proving himself the MVP of this Oilers team, snaring it and keeping DC alive. Julian Stephens opened the scoring for DC in the first, and Reed Harrison scored with just forty-five seconds to go in overtime, giving the Oilers the win. They are a part of the current top tier of teams, but won't play one of the top five teams until Pons Aelius in game 11. With a bit of a softer schedule, could they build some separation early on?

Mancunium Raiders 0, Labrador Caribou 1: While a lot of attention has been on the other teams at the top, the Caribou have been quietly climbing the standings. In this intra-Labrador rivalry game, they crushed the Raiders' scoring chances, blocking seven shots and only committing one penalty. Victor Hall scored his third goal of the year at 17:42 of the second to provide the final margin. As for Mancunium, their play has been up and down. They followed an opening loss with a good win over Newfield, then dropped a sloppy game to Aquae Sulis, but bounced back to beat league-leading Pons Aelius in a shootout. And now this. Can you say inconsistent?

Portus Abonae Privateers 0, Isca Town Captains 0 (0-1 OT): Only a game after breaking their opening four-game losing streak, the Privateers are back on the losing trail after dropping a tough one at home. Portus likes long passes, breakouts, defensive gambles that lead to odd-man rushes, and exploiting other teams on the power play with their quickness and passing. But this was more of Isca Town's game. They play a controlling, possession-based style that waits for their opponents to make a mistake and then ruthlessly takes advantage. They outshot the Privateers 32-24 and controlled more than 57% of the possession, but couldn't find an opening in regulation. Give credit to "Rusty" Barbour for holding off the Captains. Finally, Jonathan Barnes, an Isca Town center, was the open man after the Privateers mixed up their defensive assignments, and he rifled a shot past Barbour to end the game at 2:19 of overtime. The Privateers have a tough assignment next, traveling to DC.

Sept-Iles Whalers 2, Vinovium Lumberjacks 1: After not scoring for 188:12 in their previous three-plus games, the Whalers made it an even 200 minutes between goals. Gaston Fortin, the promising winger who has played poorly the last few games after notching three points in Les Balineres' first game, scored at 12:08 of the first period, beating Mel Pinson glove side with a nice wrister. It was only 15 minutes between goals the next time for them, with Marc Levesque hammering home a rebound attempt at 7:01 of the second period to give the Whalers a 2-0 lead and the home crowd more to cheer about. Although the Lumberjacks' use of a sixth attacker resulted in a goal from Kevin Morgan at 19:44, they were unable to tie the game in the final sixteen seconds. For most of the game, the Whalers were in control. They will look to build on this victory when they travel to Isca Town next. Meanwhile, Vinovium will head home to take on Eboracum and try to break this opening losing streak.