Games: 194-207

[VHL Games 1,206]

Game 194:

Helsinki Titans vs. Prague Phantoms

Game 195:

Seattle Bears vs. D.C. Dragons

Game 196:

New York Americans vs. Riga Reign

Game 197:

Vancouver Wolves vs. Toronto Legion

Game 198:

Moscow Menace vs. HC Davos Dynamo

Game 199:

Chicago Phoenix vs. Malmo Nighthawks

Game 200:

London United vs. Los Angeles Stars

Game 201:

Warsaw Predators vs. Calgary Wranglers

Game 202:

Riga Reign vs. New York Americans

Game 203:

Seattle Bears vs. Vancouver Wolves

Game 204:

Prague Phantoms vs. Helsinki Titans

Game 205:

Toronto Legion vs. London United

Game 206:

Calgary Wranglers vs. Moscow Menace

Game 207:

HC Davos Dynamo vs. D.C. Dragons

Go to Standings

[v.2 1,463]

Zaps Cat FTW

[Banackock 8,425]

DCD

[Banackock 8,425]

Targaryen!!

[der meister 3,368]

First loss to not-DCD. Huh.

[Victor 11,209]

Let's go 

[C-Breeze 6]

Game 203 | Seattle @ Vancouver:

 

It was a hard fought see-saw battle, between the Seattle Bears and the Vancouver Wolves. While Vancouver struggled to find their game early, the Bears charged out of the gate and drew first blood on the powerplay at 8:28. Nevertheless, despite being outshot 13 to 2 in the opening frame, the Wolves managed to escape the first with a one-one tie. Heading to the second, the Bears once again dominated early, retaking the lead with their second powerplay marker this time at 4:49. Fortunately for Vancouver fans, the Wolves remained undaunted and finally found their footing in the form of back-to-back goals from (eventual first star) Wayne Gretzky. It was now 3-2 Vancouver headed for the third.

 

Remarkably, for the third time in a row, the Bears once again displayed their early period mastery by evening the score at 2:40. Then with the clock winding down, the two teams remained perilously deadlocked at three. It was a tie game that neither regulation nor overtime could decide, so we moved on to the unpredictable shootout. 

 

Seattle shot first - but missed the net!
Next up was Vancouver's Pierre Marc Bouchard, who made a beautiful backhand to forehand move before beating the goaltender just under the blocker!
From there the goalies stole the show with two brilliant saves followed by Seattle's last gasp just barely missing the net. And that was that, an exciting 4-3 win for the Vancouver Wolves!

 

[244 Words]

[C-Breeze 6]

Game 204 | Prague @ Helsinki:

 

It was a wide open back-and-forth affair as the Prague Phantoms squared off against the Helsinki Titans. While the fans were delighted with all the fireworks, neither coach appeared too happy with the teams trading chances and combining for a dizzying 14 goals in the contest. The run and gun started right from the opening draw, yet it was Prague who enjoyed most of the finish jumping out to a 4-1 first period lead.

 

Heading to the second, the Titans were faced with a hard choice, they could either roll over and accept this just wasn't their night, or they could put their heads down and work their way back up the mountain. They choose the latter. Much like a dog on a bone, Helsinki scored the only two goals of the second and then added five more in the third to seal a very impressive 8-6 come-from-behind win!

 

* * *

 

Very special shout out to: Bryce Woodworth who led the way with an amazing six points (three goals and three assists) to take first star honors!

 

[179 Words]

[flyersfan345 78]

Game 198: Moscow Menace @ HC Davos Dynamo

 

S98 continues with another rendition of one of the VHL's fiercest rivalries: the Moscow Menace and HC Davos Dynamo. The two teams have met in each of the past three playoffs with Davos now looking to gain ground in a European conference that has been completely controlled by Moscow to date.

 

Moscow gets off to a very quick start and opens fire immediately, with their first goal coming less than two minutes in from Obuz Schneider Canet du Bocage (11). Only 90 seconds later: another one from Jarmo Ruutu (16). Moscow would continue to pile on with another goal only one minute and 50 seconds later, another from Jarmo Ruutu (17), to make it 3-0 after the first five minutes of play. Davos would not let that stand.

 

With a bit under ten minutes remaining in the first period, Davos would respond with a goal from Gianfranco Del Rocco (14) to make it 3-1, where it would remain heading into the tunnel to close the period. Davos would come back out ready to play, drawing a tripping penalty on Obuz Schneider Canet du Bocage at 1:07, leading to a powerplay goal from Antonia Bucatini (13) only thirty seconds later. The rest of the second period would be relatively quiet, but Davos would come back out firing in the third period again. Only six seconds into the third period, Bucatini scores his second goal of the game (14) to tie it.

 

Each team killed a penalty to try to get some points out of this matchup, leading to an uneventful overtime and eventually a shootout. Moscow would go on to miss on all three of their shots in the shootout, while Davos would miss their first two, but right before things could get too late, Johnny Tsunami quickly ended it with a shootout goal to make it a 4-3 SOW for Davos.

 

Three Stars:

1. Antonia Bucatini

2. Jarmo Ruutu

3. Gianfranco Del Rocco