The game was exciting - a nail biter. Clippers took advantage first putting up a soft puck around the goalie's left side. Hayden stayed with the puck in spite of heavy defensive shadowing, matched stride for stride, as he came in on the goalie's left. It looked like this chance was shut down, but somehow with a bit more stretch and a little push, Hayden put the puck in with a soft glide to give the Clippers a point.
RH re-set the game, though, with their own goal to match the play.
The refs were tough on the players, catching anything and everything to put the players on notice and in the box. RH took near as many with 6 penalties for a total of 12 minutes. Clippers matched this, plus a penalty shot awarded to the Stars. What a bummer, on might complain, as they made good on the play, but honestly give credit to the shooter for RH: the goal was spectacular and near impossible for most goalies to stop. The puck flew up high on a relatively close in angle (we're not talk a 'flick' here), and pinged the cross bar soundly, making it an impressive bar-down goal. Matthew shook it off, and got back to business with over 7 minutes still to play, and he kept the Clippers in the game. With still more penalties to go for the Clipper squad, the tie goal eluded the players, ending the game with a 2-1 loss to our closely rivaled neighbours. To be sure, this was not our best outing. Too many penalties took away our chances, and the coach spoke firmly to the players on this. More discipline and focus could have made the difference, and an important difference when it comes to the standings. Still, it was a solid match.
With only 2 games remaining, and a super tight grouping of top teams, Clippers could land
fourth, but still have a shot at
first! That's how tight it is, folks, and a lot depends now on upcoming EG, Markham and Aurora match ups with the top 4. Moreover, Stouffville and TNT face off in our final game of the season. That's either a +2 for TNT or for Stouffville so this will be the litmus test for our team's capability. TNT has not lost a game since mid November. If you are into tight races, this one is coming down to the wire!
All the Clippers can do now is regroup and focus on the next 2 games ahead. Their fate is in their hands for the playoff seeding.
GOOD LUCK CLIPPERS! Let's cheer them on fans!