Moscow Shakes Off Slow Start

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A Turtle Race for Moscow

Goaltender Matt Murdock and defenseman Hammar Voss watch the puck go past them in their opener against the Prague Phantoms.

 

There are a few things the Moscow Menace are known for. The first is losing finals, the second is they are streaky, and third is they have a tendency to limp out of the gate to start the season at times. S88 is one of those times unfortunately. The Menace got off to an 0-3, and then 1-4 start to the season, putting them in a hole to start the season. With shovels in hand, Moscow got to work digging themselves out of their early hole. Goaltender Matt Murdock had not been posting up his best numbers having a sub par .900 save percentage and a GAA over 3. Star forward Ronan Lavelle who has made the transition over to center got worked in the faceoff dot in the early going. The only thing Moscow seemed to have going for them was longtime fan favorite star forward Tomas Sogaard and defenseman AK92 wit the Hoodie, who could finally be having the breakout year he has been waiting for. Hoodie has been dishing out assist after assist to start off the season, and Sogaard has been cashing them in. The Moscow miscues have come early as the team adjusts to a lot of changes from the previous S87 season. Left wing Ronan Lavelle has made the transition over to center to help the faceoff cause. Stud forward Nico Pearce was traded from Moscow for a second time and was replaced by Left Alone, and Jason Argos. Moscow has more depth than last season, so a turnaround was inevitable.

 

The Swing Upwards

 

Moscow forward Tomas Sogaard celebrates a breakaway goal against the Helsinki Titans to help power Moscow to their first win.

 

Moscow would finally get their first win against the surprising first place Helsinki Titans after dropping their first game to the Riga Reign. Since the Riga game, Moscow is 4-1 in their last 5 after the 0-4 start to the season. Tomas Sogaard leads the league in points (15) and goals with (9). AK92 Wit da Hoodie leads all defensemen in points with 14, as well as the whole league in assists with all 14 of his points. Sogaard's linemate Ronan Lavelle is just one point behind him with 14  and is second behind Hoodie in assists with 10. He also has a faceoff percentage over 51% so the faceoff wins are starting to come. Goaltender Sam Tombstone's Moscow debut was a thing of beauty as he recorded the shutout during Moscow's dominate 6-0 win over the Toronto Legion. Murdock is still finding his game, but no one seems worried. The former Rookie of the Year goaltender has shown what he can do, and he should be able to shake off this rusty start no problem. Captain Kyosti Karjalainen is off to strong start, averaging over a point per game with 10 in 9 games. 5 of those points were courtesy of him putting it in the back of the net himself. Hammar Voss is off to a slow start for his standard with 7 points, but it is almost certain that pace will be picked up as Voss looks to get more involved on the power play. Newcomers Left Alone and Jason Argos also will get more involved in the offense as the season progresses. The bottom line is Moscow's offense runs deep, so they should without any doubt be able to start putting up 4+ goals a game consistently while getting solid goaltender play from Murdock. With Voss and Hoodie on the blueline who can produce, what could stop a Moscow surge?

 

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