Wednesday May 25 (Final)
Punishers get the edge over rival Armadillos
(5)Punishers vs Armadillos(3) Game 1
The Punishers had a game plan and a recipe to kick start their final on Wednesday night. Plenty of factors worked for the Punishers starting with getting that first goal provided by C.Gingras. From-there, it was a quintessential Punishers effort: scoring with their depth, scoring with their stars and using a smothering defense to hold the Armadillos off the board for a long enough time. It was just a bad start to the Armadillos night as they struggled to get much offense going. B.Gabbour finally broke the barrier later in the second period to pull his club within two, but that only lasted so long with P.Karvouriaris regaining a three goal cushion. To their credit, the Armadillos never let up scoring twice in the third period to narrow the margin to only one goal with just over ten minutes remaining. As much as they carried momentum, the Armadillos couldn’t level despite putting enough pressure out of desperation. A.Bitsakis rebounded after a rocky stretch and made sure to shut the door frustrating his opponent with remarkable saves. C.Gingras would eventually ease the tension for the Punishers by feeding an empty cage for his second goal and third point of the game. Being up 1-0 in a series is always an advantage, but this thing is far-from being over if the Punishers hope to get pay back for last season. All it takes is one bad play or a mistake somewhere to shift this series for how evenly matched both teams are. Game two will be pivotal, and the Punishers hope to end it there rather that testing their fate in a game three mini game. Time will tell as both teams will anxiously wait a long week before getting it done.
The SalumiVino player of the night goes to Alex Bitsakis of the Punishers. He had to be good all night and especially early to help pave the road for the Punishers. The goaltender kept a clean sheet for nearly two full periods which enabled his club to build a lead and protect it the rest of the way.
Suivez Hockeyballe.com sur les r�seaux sociaux suivantes