SUNDAYS #3 vs. BLIZZARD:

(vol. 12S, no. 3; newsletter by t.h.)
The game against the Blizzard was the first Sunday night game without Russ (who is on injured reserve). So there was a question before the game started about who would fill Russ' skates.  John “Wildman” Cassens volunteered to defend the blueline! So the lineup consisted of: Glen Farkas-Scott LeMatty-Chris Goione and Tim Hand-Dan DiPierro-Jimmy Ferraro on “O” and Mike Farrell-Ed Southworth and Wildman-Roger Weiss on “D.”  Harris was in the net.

The 1st period was a tight-checking one with lots of scoring opportunities at both ends.  The Blizzard were tenacious in blocking shots with their bodies, which likely kept the Pirates off the board.  Late in the period though, Ralz had the puck in the offensive zone and made an ill-advised pass back to the blueline even though a Blizzard player was nearby;  the Blizzard player took the puck and passed it to their speedy forward who rushed down the ice and blasted a slapper that beat Harris up top.  The period ended with the 1-0 Blizzard lead.

The 2nd continued with the same tenacity.  There were a couple of penalties called against the Pirates, including a 5-on-3 for a short period of time — but the Pirates were able to kill them off (although Chris took one hell of a hit after colliding with a Blizzard while clearing the zone at one point).  On an offensive face-off, Ralz won the puck to Jimmy who passed back as he drove to the net; Ralz was able to get a low shot off that beat the goalie on his stick side to tie the game, 1-1, and close-out the period.

In the 3rd, things got a little chippy. The game remained tied, however, until the final 1:00 minute of play on some outstanding goaltending by Harris.  There were numerous odd-man rushes where Harris continuously turned aside the shots-on-goal.  With about 1:30 remaining, Jimmy had a glorious chance to score the winning goal when he had a breakaway down low on the goalie; somehow the goalie was able to stop Jimmy's shot after he was deked onto his stomach.  On the ensuing play, the Blizzard came down the ice and had a couple of shots that Harris stopped — but then, when Harris was unable to get back into position (partially due to Roger's presence), the puck somehow slipped into the net off a rebound backhander.  After pulling the goalie, the Pirates were unable to find the equalizer.