Menace's start to the season

[hockeyis66 143]

The first 8 games of the season for the Menace have produced 2 wins, 4 losses and 2 overtime losses which is good for 6 points on the young season.  The Menace sit in 6^th place in the 8 team European Conference.  They have scored 26 goals but have given up 34 for a goal difference of 8 but haven’t won a game on the road yet in 4 tries.

 

Moscow at Warsaw

 

This was a tough way to start the season on the road against the defending champs and although Moscow had a 2-1 lead after the first period, the Predators scored the final 3 goals of the game to win 4 to 2.  The Menace goals were scored from Seabasstard and Newhook and Stein assisted on both Menace goals.  Bowman got the start in goal and stopped 29 of 33 shots in the loss.

 

Warsaw at Moscow

 

As if the first game was tough against the reigning champs, the Menace hosted the Predators for their home opener.  Tristan scored for Moscow just over a minute into the game but the Predators tied the game just 30 seconds later.  Lemieux scored his first career VHL as the Menace were shorthanded due to a Predators power play, but Warsaw soon tied the score again before the end of the period.

 

The Menace took over in the second period as they scored the only 3 goals to take a 5-2 lead going into the third.  Idaho, Stein and Tristan all scored while the Menace defense held the Predators to just 9 shots after giving up 19 in the first period.

 

In the third, Idaho scored the first two goals of the period to complete his home hat trick while Atreides added another for the Menace to offset the two scored by Warsaw as the Menace won the game by a score of 8 to 4.  Emeritus got his first VHL start and got the win by stopping 33 out of 37 shots as both Idaho and Markinson each had a 4 point game in the Menace’s first win of the season.

 

Riga at Moscow

 

After losing 4 straight games after that win against Warsaw, the Menace hosted the Reign in what would turn out to be quite an exciting game.  The Menace went on two early power play chances and were able to cash in on both as Seabasstard scored his 3^rd of the season and then Grapes netted his 4^th for an early 2-0 lead.  However, the Reign would close the gap to just one goal late in period for a 2-1 Menace lead after the first.

 

The Menace increased their lead after the halfway period of the second as Idaho scored his 6^th and Grapes added his second of the game and 5^th of the season for a 4-1 lead.  The Reign would not go away however, as they scored a late power play goal to cut the lead to 4-2 as the game headed into the third period.

 

The Reign would cut the lead to just 4-3 with a goal just over the halfway point of the period, but the Menace defense would hold on the rest of the way to preserve the 4-3 win and the Menace’s second win of the season.

 

Bowman got his first win of the season by stopping 34 out of 37 shots and the offense was led by Grapes who had 2 goals and an assist and Lemieux who had 3 assists before getting booted out of the game in the second period for instigating a fight.

 

Word count: 595

Edited July 27, 2021 by hockeyis66

[Greg_Di 1,028]

Review:

Great summary of Moscow's start to the season along with your view point of each game. I liked the detailed brake down of each game. I usually don't follow other teams other then my own so it's a great perspective to receive on how other teams are doing. To make it more complete I would maybe add some sort of headline or a headlining picture. Great work! 9.5/10

[Baby Boomer 765]

9/10 

Woow very good article. I really love the little picture beside the name of the teams. Yout text is very well written and easy to read, it is also not a big wall of words so it makes it more nice to read. I love how you separated each game and you described them precisely.