MAHKOVEC DOUBLE POWERS DRAGONS PAST GOOCH'S GRAZ
Olimpija defeats the league leaders; Gooch, like God, giveth and taketh away - registering an assist but giving us a powerplay that we score from.
Lineup changes
Zajc comes in for Mehle on the 3rd line; we have quite the logjam at wing now that Tomaževič has moved over to accommodate Cerveny as 2C!
Stars of the game
* Marcel Mahkovec (2G) - He'd been so quiet this season...But he erupts in the biggest game so far, with a scintillating brace of goals, recalling his playoff performances last season. This is more like it from the reigning Young Player of the Year!
** Lukaš Horak - Barring two helter-skelter moments out of his net, it was the usual: monster stops, kept us in the game, dneska ne - you know the drill by this point. Crowd chanting 'MVP' at the end during his victory belly flops.
*** The 4th line (Žiga Pance (1G), Miha Beričič (1G 1 A), Jaka Sodja (1A)) - If I told you we had a shutdown line that also consistently scores (and does so more than the 1st line and the 2nd line), would you agree with me that we have the best 4th line in the league? How can you not love these guys? All three are penalty killers, all three are impactful attackers. Bravo momci!
Game flow
P1
Olimpija start fast and strong.
18:09 Atwal's backhand nearly finds its way in.
17 Graz have an unimpeded wraparound chance, it wouldn't be the last tonight...
15:15 Cerveny roofs it over the bar from close range.
14:57 Cerveny with another powerful shot.
Waves of OLL pressure, you love to see it!
14:25-13:23 DELAYED PENALTY - ONE INTERFERENCE AND ONE TRIP! 5 ON 3!
Graz run the goalie and then trip someone. Long possession on the delayed penalty but we can't really organise ourselves properly and keep losing it on the blue line.
One shot on goal. 20s left Mašič looks up too early and misses the puck. We are making Graz's 3 men look like 6 players at the moment.
Slightly criminal not to get more than one shot on goal in a 2 minute 5 on 3. Will we ever score on a powerplay again? Stay tuned.
9:34 Huge save by Horak on a 2 on 1. Atwal pulls out of what would have been a huge hit along the boards, which lets them through. I thought we signed him for these big hits!
8:59 Why are we letting guys skate right across the net front? Have some pride in protecting your D-zone and goalie, fellas! We are playing too soft here.
7:58 Pleasingly powerful Pavlin shot saved.
5:08 Horak bats one out of the air and it's slapped away.
4:36 PENALTY ON GRAZ FOR INTERFERENCE ON SIMŠIČ
Atwal, Lavoie and Sabolič have shots on goal, but Cerveny and Mašič go offside.
1 Weathering waves of Graz attacks but it stays 0-0.
END P1 0-0
P2
Cerveny is hitting players who have just passed the puck. It's nice to see, as we don't really play that game of wearing down opponents with hits. This presumably comes from his time in the KHL as a lower-down-the-lineup centre who had to do this kind of stuff to do his job properly.
18:26 PEN ON OLL - Ćosić crosscheck. PK1 is Bičevskis, Pance, Crnović and Pavlin.
17:15 Great forecheck from Simšič creates a chance for Sodja. We get a shot on goal before they do, flipping the script from what usually happens on our powerplays!
14:50 GOAL GRAZ - Gooch gets the assist on a goal for no. 21 who roofs it blocker side.
0-1
Pavlin falls over while being forechecked by Gooch and they both have a laugh about it.
14:21 PEN ON GRAZ - 21 goes to the box, no announcement again by ref or announcer.
Cerveny has 2 SOGs, with a 3rd just wide. Sabla has one too, along with Mašič and Kapel. This is better, boys! No PPG but it's really reassuring to see some shots firing off for a change.
10:17 Bičevskis gets slammed into his own bench!
10:05 Ćosić sneaks by and ends up 1 on 1 with the goalie, but can't finagle it into the net.
SMASH ATTACK TIME - 1:30? Has it always been this, or is it shorter now that the majority of people would actually have an opportunity in the afternoon game to go and get their free meal there, unlike in an evening game? I think it is the same as usual, but I wonder...
Amusingly the faceoff stops it with 0:00:24 milliseconds left on the Smash Attack. Don't think the Smash Burger owner was too worried by that point.
7:22 Two side net hits for G99.
6:58 Pavlin lays out at a considerable full stretch to break up an attack.
6:44 Another one where Horak stops it and the defender, this time Ćosić, flips it away. Good to see him getting some support for a change!
4:33 PEN ON GRAZ - TRIP ON MAŠIČ BY GOOCH.
Sabla to Tomaževič - deflection saved.
3:34 Horak is comes way out on a shorthanded chance and gets caught in no man's land - he was in two minds and chose to come out too late. Mercifully we escape unscathed.
Passing it to the opposition is not a good idea on the powerplay...
But what is a good idea is...
4s left on PP - GOAL OLIMPIJA - MAHKOVEC. For once we do yet another pass and it works out - Mašič is front and centre for what we all think is going to be a shot, but he slides it on to Mahkovec, who rifles it below the blocker (and then celebrates on the screen with a sniper shot). Great pass, Bine and great shot, Marcel! WE GET A PPG!!! Bičevskis gets the secondary assist.
1-1
Graz challenge for offside, spoiling the celebrations somewhat, but thankfully it's a good goal.
1:28 Sabla pushes one across the goal, drawing gasps from the crowd.
1:03 Crnović beautifully picks Gooch's pocket on an attack.
34s left - crucial faceoff win by Cerveny just outside our blue line.
END P2 1-1
P3
18:42 Nice carry in and shot from Gregorc.
17:46 Lovely pass from Mahkovec to Zajc at the net front.
17:15 Ćosić and Simšič both have shots from good areas, with Nik's going through the goalie's legs but wide.
EXCELLENT PRESSURE, COMING OUT HOT AGAIN LIKE IN P1.
Bičevskis continues to get brutalised tonight, get this man an ice bath post-game!
15:18 Pavlin hits the post!
14:07 Mašič misses wide when wide open in the centre of the ice. Got to hit the target there.
13:51 GOAL OLIMPIJA - BERIČIČ. Zajc shoots and Miha does very well to find the puck through a millipede's party of legs and poke it home.
2-1
13:07 GOAL GRAZ - Graz get one back quickly with some similar net front messiness. Going to have to watch the film and see what exactly happened there.
2-2
12:43 Cerveny can't control it in a great area. Tomaževič putting in a lot of hard work for the team.
12:05 PEN OLL - Gregorc pulls down no.21 a little bit too blatantly and it's 2 mins for holding.
Important block from Bičevskis.
10:22 Horak gets caught round the back of his net and it's truly amazing that Graz do not manage to link up and score in the wide open net.
8:48 Gregorc lays out at full stretch to extinguish a 3 on 1 chance.
7 - We can't get it out of our defensive zone, lots of messy net front encounters.
6 - More Graz pressure, looking like a powerplay.
4:26 GOAL OLIMPIJA - MAHKOVEC AGAIN! Great work by Beričič and Mahkovec. Marcel aggressively drives it close to the goal, passes it square to Miha and it's back for Mahkovec to just about squeeze past the line. Great to see some more direct play instead of just passing it around the perimeter endlessly.
3-2
We are playing like we really want this win. It's a pleasure to watch and the home fans are singing loudly and proudly.
1:15 Graz go empty net, it's a nervy time of it now.
1:00 Tomaževič misses the empty net wide left!
37s Multiple Horak saves here, he kisses the crossbar afterwards.
4th line are on, brilliant glove save from 61.
23s Even better blocker save.
2s left Sodja sets up Pance for the EMPTY NET GOAL! That's the hockey game!
4-2
Final thoughts
On kids' day, we sent Graz and their fans back home crying to Mama. Stick taps to our coaching staff; we looked very well prepared here, coming out fast and mean in both the 1st and 3rd periods. We even improved on our dreaded powerplay, getting more shots on goal and even scoring a PPG for the first time in what feels like forever, thanks to Mahkovec!
Isn't it such a testament to this team that it shouldn't really have been this close? We have just beaten the league leaders, the first to beat them in regulation time, and we could have done better. Do you see what I mean when I talk about this team's juggernaut potential this season?
Next Friday we play Linz away - let's get another 3 points then. Forza Zmaji, you made a lot of people very happy today!
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