OLIMPIJA 3 - 2 KLAGENFURT
DRAGONS CONTINUE TO ROAR BACK TO LIFE
Stars of the game
* Lukáš Horák (29/31 for 0.935) - Some monster saves on big breakaways (e.g. a double save on a free short-handed breakaway at the end of P1), amidst his usual great work. If I can ever trust a girl I'm dating as much as I trust Lukáš Horák in net, I'll know she's the one for me.
** Zach Boychuk (2G) - I was telling my Dad, who was also watching the livestream, that Boychuk hasn't been dominant this season, but he's had a knack for scoring goals 'in big spots', as Dan Hanzus of the Heed The Call NFL podcast would say. Two more tonight!
*** Nico Meyer (2A) - Assisted on both of Boychuk's goals, one of which was an absolutely jaw-dropping backhand pass across the net. So skilful, you might even call it Žiga Pance-esque 😉.
Goals
P1
KAC - They score right off the faceoff draw. I don't think Horak ever saw it.
P2
OLL - Boychuk from Meyer. Meyer takes the puck away from goal and reverses it blindly across the net-front, picking out Boychuk perfectly at the back post. Just as I had suggested, they seemed to have been given license to get more creative in their approach to offense. What a mind meld these two had on this play...
KAC - A weird goal, with a deflection and a bounce over Horak.
OLL - Boychuk from Meyer and Drozg. Lovely work from Boychuk, who gets the puck on and off his stick quickly, rifling it into the top corner from the high slot.
OLL - Petan from Mahkovec and Polei. More beautiful play, this time from the 2nd line. This was an NHL-quality goal. the triangle began behind the net with Mahkovec, who hit Polei at the bottom of KAC's left circle. Polei one-timed it to Petan at the back post, who put the puck in the net.
Why'd this happen?!
We rose to the moment and stuck to CC's vision for the team. KAC had packed the away end fuller than I'd ever seen, but we didn't shy away from the occasion. We played with confidence and demonstrated the kind of skill and creativity that had us scoring boatloads of goals for fun earlier in the season.
The 1st and 2nd lines came through with the three goals and Horák held his own at the other end. The skill guys showed out and the tough guys kept KAC out, all the while continuing to play cleaner hockey. Ensuring KAC were given no freebies helped to prevent them from coming back into the game in P3, which got us the huge victory over the top team in the league, by some distance.
This can be an anchor point for us and our self-belief throughout the rest of this season. If we can stay more consistent in playing our style, which should bring more consistently positive results, we will put ourselves on a good footing for the playoffs, which are not far on the horizon at this stage.
Talking of cleaner hockey, I found the RTV article below (Google Translated) very interesting. I feel vindicated for calling out the penalties we were taking, as CC saw it the same way.
CC: "It is completely normal that every team in this league also has a crisis. In Salzburg, we also had such a period every year. We lost 1:7 to Pustertal three days before Christmas, and then we won the championship title that season. At the beginning of the season, all teams have a lot of energy, because everything starts anew. There are a lot of problems in December. The teams have a lot of injuries, a lot of players are tired. The final is still quite a long way off and it is difficult to find that extra charge".
"We talked a lot about the number of penalties. We are currently in first place in the league in two-minute penalties. I don't mind if we get a penalty for aggressive play. A lot of the penalties were really stupid. Unnecessary stick blows, arguing with the referees, too many players on the ice... We analysed them and I think it will be better now", added the Canadian strategist.OHB: At this stage, it's better to just be grateful that we are on the way out of this 'crisis', rather than over-analyse why we got into it in the first place. I am really pleased to see that CC agreed with me and has hopefully put an end to the penalty gifting that kept killing our momentum.
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