Zombies Bring Down Sputnix

Cadavers (8) vs Sitniks
Tuesday November 25
Canton 10:20pm

8-6 Win!



Oh baby this was a good one. A wild west style shootout with the Zombies and Ruskies going back and forth all night. Just like a cold war spy novel this one had twists and turns, handsome guest players, and plenty of "competitive escalation" on the ice.
There was some good pregame anticipation as we got ready to face off against our teammates and friends Roman and Matvey and their comrades. The Zombie locker room was a bit on the light side before game time when this guy/kid pokes his head into the room and says this:
"Do you guys need skaters? I was supposed to play for them but they have too many guys."
Jeff looked around the room, counted to 8 and said. "No problem." The kid (in shape and had the look of a ringer) said he knew someone on the 'niks and he had asked him along. No problem. So in an ironic turn of Glastnost... or would it be Peristrokia... the Sputniks held true to thier communtist manifesto and "spread the wealth" just enough to help thier opponents (us) out. Thanks commrades.
The kid... Tyler Mather turns out to be awesome. Not very tall but other than that he could skate, stickhandle, shoot, and pass with the best of 'em. He was a nice addition considering that there were plenty of new recruits in the Sputnik lineup that would have made the game a much more difficult experience had we not had our talent infusion.
The Dead in Red ended up with 12 total. Larry and Mather (wearing #1) centering 3 sets of wings. iJosh and Parker, Jasse and Jeff, Dr.Pounds and Mitch. The D was ably manned by DWH and Capt. George, and Hammitt and Valenti. Lizzy in the pipes.
The game was fast paced. Lots of stuff going on all over the ice at both ends. Lizzy was spot on through the early going.
The Flying Purple Satillites would strike first netting one at 8:36 in the first after a long scramble in the Cads end. They had broken through for the game's first blood and Team Zombie knew they had their work cut out... extra help or no.
DWH would strike with a great shot after a beauty of a rush up ice just 2 minutes later. Dan and George were really flying out there covering lots of ground against the rushing Russians. The Zombies would strike again with 3 minutes left in the first. This time Parker on the feed from #1. This was a hard cycle down low and a nice finish (gritty) from Parker. Larry would go for a hook late in the period but it was killed. 2-1 Cads after 1.
Good things kept happening for the Dead as Parker would score again (unassisted) at the start of the second. Niffty #1 would put another one in at the 10 minute mark and things were really looking good for the Cads. They were up 4-1 and the Russians were frustrated. Of course... the Sputniks had us right where they wanted us. The penalty bug would bite again, as it always does, in the second, when Parker went for a rough at 8:03. The Purple Satillites would score 20 seconds in to make it 4-2.
Then came the avalanche. The Cosmonauts would score THREE more times in the next 4 minutes of playing time to lead the game 5-4 with just under 3 minutes left in the period. There was no question a visible let down on the Red side as things just fell apart at the seams. The Purple were getting good shots and taking the game right to us winning battles.
The tide would be stemmed by the Red getting back on track with a great shift from iJosh and Parker and Nifty#1. They would do some hard work cycling and the play would go iJosh to Mather to Parker and in the net. Parker with the natural hat-trick, and well deserved. 5-5 after 2 exhausting periods.
The blogger is here to tell you there was definitely some Zombie Pride in the house as the teams took to the third. Everyone was tired. Nobody let up and we really finished strong. At the end of the first shift in the third Jeff would pick up a puck that Valenti kept in at the point and went through a defender to the net. He kept going and managed to get off a shot that found its way home and the Dead were back in front in the early going.
Another 7 minutes of hard work later Dan With Hands would take a nice feed from #1 in the slot and did like a turn around backhand thing (I think...) that put the Red ahead by two 7-5. Not enough can be said about the work of the D corps, DWH on the board with 2 and a bunch of play breaks, George covering lots of ground, and Hammit making some nice plays. Marc was probaly just happy he didn't have to deal with Jeff as his D partner for the night. Great work by all of 'em.
The game would have one more twist as the Sputniks would score with under a minute left to make the last 30 seconds interesting. Lizzy once again made some just terrific saves in the closing seconds as the russians buzzed around the net.
The game ended with (appropriately) our sub Mather landing the empty net with 3 seconds remaining to end the game 8-6. He gave a tremendous contribution all night with this legs and hands moving the play or stopping it when we needed to. We told him he could come back any time. (like when he's home on vacation again from St.Mikes...)
Game Stars
3rd Star: DWH with 2 nice goals and lots of plays on both ends. Breaking up plays or starting a rush, then finishing it, he had great contributions all night.
2nd Star: Parker with the hat trick, and probably an assist somewhere in there and just tough Neelyesque play all night. Great work.
1st Star: Who else but Tyler Mather the Young Gun, number 1, our able substitute that was very nearly skating for the other side... glad to have you skate with us. Come back anytime. Thanks.