By Bill Johnson
The Guelph Atom Select Gryphons hosted the Waterloo Wolves
at Centennial Arena for their second contest of the season. The pace of the game started off quick with
both teams skating hard. The first significant
chance of the game went to the home team at the 7:30 mark when Isaac Hughes was
able to strip the puck off a Waterloo defencemen in the offensive zone, maneuvered
around the Wolves’ goalie, but pushed the puck just wide of the net.
The teams continued to trade possession in the neutral zone, until 6:17 remaining in the first. Wolves #77 got in behind the Gryphon defence, skated over the blue line to the hash marks and fired a hard wrist shot that snuck into the back of the net. Both teams pushed back and forth for the remainder of the period, with neither giving an inch, and the 1st period ended 1-0 Wolves.
The second period started similar to the first with the teams sharing the play of the game and trading possession through the neutral zone. The best chance in the period belonged to the Wolves at 4:58. A Waterloo player received a pass in front of the Guelph net and found himself alone on his backhand. He was able to get the shot off before the Gryphon defence could close in, but Ryan Kurt was up to the task and pushed the shot aside. The Wolves continued to keep up the pressure and were able to double their lead at the 4:37 mark as #7 from Waterloo skated up the side boards and released a high wrist shot that found the top right corner. This seemed to encourage the Gryphons to push back and they were able to pressure the Wolves but came up just short on a hard shot by Johnston Hallahan off a beauty of a pass from Brady Cheam and a breakaway by Hughes that was saved by the Waterloo netminder. The second period ended 2-0 Wolves.
The Wolves struck early in the third period after a point shot by #66 was saved by Eyers, but the rebound slipped out to the stick of #55 to slide past the outstretched Guelph netminder at 13:05. The Gyphons were able to produce a couple of strong scoring chances throughout the remainder of the period, with Finn Coulson skating past the Waterloo defence and goalie only to have the puck ring off the post. With about five minutes remaining, Kailen Robertson took another breakaway chance for the Gryphons. After pressuring a Wolves defencemen at the blue line, Robertson carried the puck down the side boards, but his shot was pushed aside by the visiting netminder. The Waterloo team had the last chance of the game, as they rushed in on a breakaway that was neatly poked away by Eyers.
Despite the hustle and effort from the Atom Select Gryphons, it seemed like the puck was just an inch or two out of their reach for most of the night, and they weren’t able to convert on their passes with the game ending 3-0 for Waterloo. It was a good solid test for the team with outstanding effort.