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As had
been announced the Predators were in Dorchester to
play a rescheduled game against the Strathroy
Rockets on January 3rd. Strathroy opened the scoring
at 5:20 of the first period and then added another
at 16:44 to take a 2 - 0 lead into the intermission.
The Rockets got the jump early in the second period
again with another goal at 1:49. Then the Predators
were sparked by the efforts of Cam Downie, Samir
Jomaa and Kalvin Thornton as they combined to get
their team on the board. Downie got the goal as
Jomaa and Thornton assisted. The boys got a bit down
for 4 minutes in the middle of the second of period
as the Rockets netted three more goals and held a 6
- 1 lead at the 14:22 mark.
Then the Predators caught a break when a Rocket
player was sent to the box for slashing. Samir Jomaa
got the power play goal with assists going to
Brendon Merritt and Kalvin Thornton. The period
closed out with Predators trailing 6 - 2.
Lambton Shores came out in the third period with one
their most determined efforts of many games. They
out shot the Rockets 15 - 11 in the final frame and
had them back on their heals for a lot of the final
period. It resulted in Kalvin Thornton getting his
third point of the night with a goal at 5:57.
Assists went to Adam Orbinski and Samir Jomaa who
also earned his 3 point night. Twenty seconds later
Chris Taylor closed the gap to 6 - 4 with another
counter. Corbin Bean and Thomas Flamminio got the
assists.
As the game was entering the final stages the
Predators were trailing by two so they pulled their
goalie for the extra attacker. It paid off at 19:27
as Brendon Merritt scored with assists going to
Rupert Twins, Matt and Ryan. The Predators took the
play to the Rockets zone for the final 23 seconds
and had two more great chances to tie the game. The
Rocket goalie managed to hold them off and stop a
great come back just short. It was an exciting
finish for the fans to watch and an encouraging sign
for the Predator team.
With the Silver Stick hockey tournament being played
at the Shores Recreation Centre the team traveled to
Dorchester once again to play a game that had been
previously postponed. They took on the Leamington
Flyers last Saturday night. Although the Flyers
almost doubled the Predators shot output in the game
it was kept close by net minder Reid Rankin who
earned a third star for his efforts. Play in the
first period was fairly even
and it remained scoreless going into the second
frame. Leamington then took advantage of a Predator
penalty by scoring on their power play at 2:31. They
then added three more goals in less than three
minutes to give them a 4 - 0 lead by 7:37 of the
period.
In the middle of the frame the Flyers were called
for a cross check. Nearing the end of the power play
it was Adam Arseneault who made them pay with the
goal. Brendon Merritt and Cam Downie got the
assists. The Predators were trailing 4 - 1 at the
start of the third period. It was Adam Arseneault
who was back in the line up after an injury who made
his presence felt in the game. He scored his second
goal of the night at 4:30 as Kevin Raine and Matt
Rupert assisted. At 11:16 Brendon Merritt scored
with Arseneault getting another point with an
assist. Then at 15:06 Adam Arseneault got his forth
point of the night after taking a pass from Kevin
Raine and feeding the puck to Matt Rupert who scored
the goal to tie the game at 4 - 4.
There was a five minute four on four overtime period
played in which the Flyers out shot The Predators 6
- 1. Solid net minding again by goal tender Reid
Rankin kept them off the score sheet and forced a
shoot out finish. The exciting conclusion saw Adam
Arseneault and Matt Rupert and Brendon Merritt
taking shots for the Predators.
Unfortunately none of them were able repeat their
successes they enjoyed during the game and one of
the Flyers managed to score to give them the shoot
out win. The Predators then traveled to St. Thomas
for a Sunday night contest against the Stars. Chris
Taylor opened the scoring at 1:51 with Christian
Babb and James
Pursell earning assists. Twenty seconds later St.
Thomas tied the score at 1 - 1 only to have the
Predators take the lead again at 2:56 when Matt
Rupert scored with Thomas Flamminio assisting to
give them the last lead they see in the game.
The Stars
scored three more goals in the first frame and then
added three more unanswered goals in the second
period. Holding a 7 - 2 lead going into the third
the Stars managed a short handed goal that widened
the gap before the Predators got on the board again.
At 17:12 Kalvin Thornton scored with Matt Rupert
assisting.
The Stars added another before the finish to make
the final 9 - 3. This week the Predators travel to
LaSalle for a game Wednesday night and then have
another long trip Thursday as they travel to
Leamington. The game originally scheduled for
Saturday at the Shores Recreation Centre against St.
Marys has been postponed. |
