The Stingers took on the Bulls yet again after a pretty bland outing three
days prior. But the rematch between the two clubs was slightly the opposite. At least in
the beginning of the game. Both teams opened up the game shooting but seemed to cool off
as the minutes ticked down. Peter Marsh of the Stingers put the first score on the board
two minutes into the first period. His shot came on a deflection after teammate Barry
Legge fired the puck from the point. But the Bulls tied the game up twenty seven seconds
when Vaclav Nedomansky beat Norm LaPointe with a hard shot out in front. The Stingers took
the lead again after Blaine Stoughton hit the puck in after Bulls goalie John Garrett
bobbled the puck. But the goal was taken away after the referee blew the whistle within
seconds of the puck going in the net. Later in the period, Dennis Sobchuk won a faceoff
and took a clear shot on the Bulls goal, but the puck hit the goal pipe.
During the second period, both teams
had power play opportunities but neither team managed to make good with their advantages.
Cincinnati had a few shots in tight on the Bulls goalie Garrett, but he stopped each shot
taken. Stoughton had Garret beat on one particular shot but the puck hit the crossbar of
the Bulls net. Cincinnati was able to keep the Bulls out of their end for most of the
second period, holding the club to four shots on goal. However, the Stingers took fourteen
shots on goal and skated away with nothing.
During the third period, the Stingers
had more scoring opportunities but came up short yet again. However they did successfully
kill off two penalties. The Bulls finally broke the tie at 16:10 when Jeff Jacques
deflected the puck past LaPointe from right in front. As the minutes and seconds
ticked away, the Stingers kept coming up shy so in the final minute of the game Terry
Slater pulled goalie LaPointe for a sixth skater. Despite the Stingers having the puck for
the most part in the Bulls end, they still came up short. The Bulls Mark Napier managed to
swipe the puck and easily tap it in the Stingers empty net for an insurance goal.
The Stingers were obviously in a slump
of sort. Slater would say "Not a big slump. But a slump just the same. The team has
not only been lax in working both ends of the ice, but the team has apparently forgotten
how to pressure the opponent and force mistakes in the opponents end". |
