Game # 38
Lindsay Muskies 5 - Quinte West Pack 1
January 13th, 2008 in Trenton
Summary
It would be difficult to overstate the importance of this win for the Muskies. A loss in regulation would have seen them five points adrift of the final playoff spot held by the Pack. Instead, a majestic performance means that the Fish have not only closed within one point (with a game in hand) but have also made a huge statement of their intent. This game wasn't even close by the third period as the Muskies outplayed their rivals in most departments. At the front end, Shayne Taylor took the spotlight with a goal in each period, while at the other, Matt Ginn did everything that was asked of him, and added an assist for good measure. The other goals for the Muskies came from captain Kyle Stojsin and Rob Kay (his first since signing last week).
Period 1
The Muskie put in a fairly good first period and came out of it on level terms. The first goal went to the Pack and showed how quickly fortunes change in hockey. Cam Granger had a clean break in behind the home team's defence but the puck rolled off his stick before he could get his shot away. The Pack regained the puck, sent a quick pass out to Jacob Doseger who had positioned himself in behind the Lindsay defence and he sped in and beat Matt Ginn at 6:08 for the early lead. On their first powerplay chance, the Fish hit the bar with a shot from Shayne Taylor at the point. But almost immediately a nasty slash gave Lindsay a two man advantage, which they converted with a similar blast by Taylor as Trevor Mock shielded the Quinte West goalie, Shawn Sirman. Mock and Alex Charette would earn assists for their efforts. The goal came at 14:16. From then on, the Muskies had the best of the play but Matt Ginn still had to pull off a pair of point blank saves to maintain the parity at the break.
Period 2
The Muskies continued to look the better team for much of the second period. The teams swapped powerplays early on and, although neither could score, it was again the Fish that impressed more. This was borne out on their next powerplay when they took the lead. Alex Charette found Trevor Mock, who slipped a neat pass across the top of the crease to Kyle Stojsin who had a gaping net to put it in at 14:01. The lead became two goals at 17:43 with a thing of simple beauty. Ryan Oliver fed a pass to Shayne Taylor in the neutral zone. Taylor found a hole in the defence and flew through it before completely bewildering Sirman in the Quinte West net to make it 3-1. Goalie Matt Ginn picked up the other assist for his role in getting the move started. The Muskies nearly got their fourth when another shot hit the iron, but this seemed to wake up the Pack, who finished the period well. They spent the last minute and a half with a two man advantage. It seemed they must score with twelve seconds left when the puck sat in the crease unguarded with a Pack forward very close by, but somehow Matt Ginn got a pad over to deny the home team the chance to cut the lead in half. So the Fish found themselves with a two goal lead to defend in the third period, but as Leafs fans know, this doesn't always guarantee the victory.
Period 3
The Pack began with the remains of a powerplay and it gave them a chance to make an immediate statement to the Fish, but it wasn't forthcoming, and from then on the Muskies really controlled the play. Once Rob Kay got his first goal for Lindsay at 7:46, it was always going to be a case of how many the Muskies would win by. Kay was set up on the right wing by Jordan Sinclair and Mike Wills and his shot had too much for Sirman, who got a lot of it - but not enough as it slid through his pads and over the line. Lindsay only added one more goal but it could easily have been more as Quinte West seemed to wilt in the face of their own demise. The final goal was another impressive shot from Shayne Taylor to complete his hat-trick. He, too, shot from the right side of goal and this time Sirman probably hardly saw it and he certainly never touched it as the puck screamed past him and bulged the netting at 9:57. It was unassisted. With two seconds left, a fight developed in front of the penalty boxes involving Aaron Keaney and Drake Egger. In many ways it reflected the game itself - the Quinte West player got in the early shots but then Keaney changed hands and laid a thorough beating on his opponent.
Box Score: Click here
Game Sheet: Click here
Photographs
Rob Kay goes to work in the Quinte West zone.
Trevor Mock puts some traffic in front of the goalie - and a second later Shayne Taylor's first goal was in the back of the net.
Jordon Sinclair tries to force the puck in at the near post, amid desperate defence from the home team.
Shawn Sirman denies Trevor Mock close in.
But this time Sirman is down and out as Kyle Stojsin taps in Lindsay's second on a powerplay.
A couple of minutes later, Taylor's speed sets him up in a confrontation with the goalie, which the forward won with ease.
Mitch Vasey heads off to join in the celebrations for Rob Kay's first goal, which made it 4-1 Fish.
Jeff Bayley takes a look to make sure Sirman has held on, while Cam Granger gets some special attention.
Shayne Taylor completes the scoring with his third of the game.
It looked like the Muskies might add more but in the end they settled for five.