The Kincardine Bruce Telecom Bantam LL2 Kinucks played host to the Saugeen Shores Storm on Tuesday 30Oct2012 at the Davidson Centre. Kincardine were out to keep their early season streak alive. Emphasis on passing with authority, moving the puck to the open man and defensive positioning continue to be the messages in practice. It was time to see practice in action.
The game started out well for Kincardine, putting lots of pressure on Saugeen Shores. Five minutes into the first, Kincardine capitalised on power play with Owen Fohkens tucking the puck in down low. No official assists are listed but effective puck movement from Riley Cherrett, Brady Masur, Corbyn Fields and Brendan Arciszewski contributed to the goal. Kincardine kept the pressure on after the first goal, sensing the opportunity to strike again. Two minutes later, Cherrett on a solo effort found the top glove side corner to give Kincardine the two goal lead.
The second period saw a huge momentum swing in favour of Saugeen Shores. Despite the barage of nine shots on net and many more close calls, Kincardine managed to maintain the two goal lead thanks largely to the stellar goaltending of Alex Pande. Help came from the defense when the puck was pulled out from behind Alex on two occasions after he made two stops in a row. Things needed to change for Kincardine to come through with the win, and the break for the flood couldn’t come soon enough.
After a motivational speech by a sparkly blue bow-tie-wearing coach Fohkens, Kincardine came out flying in the third period, eager to seal the win. Three minutes into the third, Arciszewski passed the puck up to Cherret who crossed the blueline taking the puck down low and feathered a perfect backhand saucer pass onto Fohken’s stick in the slot. Once again, the big guy made no mistake and buried it giving Kincardine the three goal lead. Kincardine sat back a bit, giving Pande more work, but excellent defensive positioning kept most shots to the outside. Pande made a total of 23 saves for the shut-out win and Kincardine keeps its streak alive at three wins to start off the season.