Other than the endless parade to the penalty box, there's not much not to like about Monday night's Hanover effort against the Salem Blue Devils. Good solid defending, in front of outstanding goal tending is the recipe for success for the young Marauders. Combine that with a good aggressive forecheck and scoring contributions from some folks other than the usual suspects, and the home team will go home happy more often than not.
Freshman Zinman opened his career tally sheet in the first period, with a hard working goal off a rebound and crease scrum. Plottner and Morhun were credited on the assists, so, if my history books are correct, all three points awarded are the first score sheet entries in each boy's career.
The second goal was scored less than two minutes into the 2nd period, when Goff rocketed up the left wing and carried the puck deep into the Salem zone. Smith matched his speed stride for stride and steamed up the center of the ice, arriving at the top of the crease just at the right time to receive Goff's centering pass and deposit it past the helpless Blue Devil goalie for his first career goal.
At that point it seemed like perhaps the flood gates would open, and the Marauders would run away and hide from the dispirited Blue Devils. Unfortunately, from that point on, the only gate that opened on a regular basis was the penalty box door, as a string of penalties killed any chance the Marauders had of extending the lead. On the good news front, the penalty killing units got plenty of work, and they were up to the task, including almost a full two minutes of 5 on 3 that included a unique three forward grouping on the ice at one point.
The third period was more of the same, as the ice started to open up, and Hanover penalties killed any chance at seizing momentum and putting the game out of reach. Ratliff was up to the task at the other end, displaying the confidence, poise and efficiency in the net that made him impossible to beat and earned him a well deserved clean sheet, the 5th of his Hanover career.
Next up for the young Marauders is the Manchester Holiday Tourney, Dec 26th at 6:00 PM facecoff at JFK Coliseum.
Valley News has a nice writeup this AM, not sure if you can read it online without a subscription but here's the link:
http://www.vnews.com/home/20168173-95/hanover-hockey-grinds-it-out
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