Great Guelph possession game!
This game was all about possession for the Gryphons. An excellent passing and control game started in period 1 and continued throughout. The game was not without Eagles chances, which came in a few short but furious rushes. They would get 4-5 great shots in a row, all beautifully turned aside or trapped by Sergio, then Guelph would control the next five minutes. Otherwise, among a lot of great defensive work was Max’s great positioning, keeping pucks out of our end, and puck moving - up the near boards and cross-ice to the open wing, keeping the puck up-ice. As much as the Gryphons controlled the first period, we actually had very few shots, but it was fun to watch Jesse dancing around Eagles up the left hand side, and Gareth flying through centre with drives to the net.
The second period saw much of the same great play by Guelph, and it finally paid off late in the period as call-up Griffen picked up a puck in a scramble, spun and fired it over the keeper’s glove for the 1-0 Guelph lead. A couple minutes later back to Burlington’s end, and Noah came in off the point to fire home a puck that popped out from behind the net. Burlington came right back a few seconds later, up the left side of Sergio, who flashed the leather to stop a hard shot that had eyes for the far side.
The third period continued with great Gryphons hustle, including Cam holding pucks in the Eagles end and just barely getting stoned multiple times by an athletic keeper. But his hard work paid off with about five minutes left in the third as he won the puck in a battle behind the net, popped it out to Ty, who buried it; 3-0 Guelph. Burlington started pouring it on after that goal. Sergio was flashing glove, pad, blocker and paddle for a solid few minutes, as Burlington showed a lot of energy. One beauty shot got in the smallest space above Sergio’s shoulder, and another one on a round the net scramble where Sergio made a couple of saves before not being able to reach the other side, as Burlington had the 6th skater on. In the dying moments Sergio kept turning Eagles shots away, at 3-2 to protect the lead, until it popped out past the blue line; Seba pushed it hard up the ice, where an off balance shot didn’t make the net, but Jason got the wrap around on the right-side board and nailed the insurance marker. Final score, 4-2 Guelph. Great game for Sergio and the Gryphs, and call-ups Malin, Griffen, and Tyler.
-PL