Nipawin Knights got the Ramblers against the wall Thursday night as they came out of the first period even with two goals each, in the second the Ramblers held them to a single goal but the third saw Pete McAvoy score from a great pass from Scott Kearns while the Knights smashed, dribbled and slid in four more.
There were minutes in the second and third period where the hottest passing any of us have seen was executed by the Ramblers but despite extra ordinary play by individuals like Brad Kirkland (right) and Neil Elmslie the Knights had the Ramblers defensively. Forcing the Ramblers to shoot from the top of the circle and never letting league leading scorer Scott Homstol and the tricky Jordan Spagrud near the net proved completely successful. Shane Magnus did get the first goal in the game with an assist from Scott Homstol but he and Jeremy Markwart who often roam at will in the opposition's end were pretty much tied up in this game. Spagrud got the second goal in the first period with assist from Jeff Farber and Pete McAvoy.
Kevin Lockwood did an excellent job in the Nipawin net but it was the defense who force the Ramblers into long shot
situations
that made the difference in the game. Chad Olson, Lee Morgan and Scott Kearns pounded away but Lockwood was solid on the long ones. In the picture on the right Scott Homstol is bottled up behind the net with Nipawin's Curtis Wanamaker, and the team captain, Randell Kerluke out in front of the net preventing any Rambler from getting into a short shot scoring situation.
For Nipawin Murry MacKintosh started the scoring in the first period while Mike Simons connected on the second. In the second period their only goal came from Mike Thorley. In the third the goals came from Shannon Appenmier, Jonathon Almen, and Jeff Chorney who
scored the
last two goals.Penalties were not really a factor in the game with seven going to the Ramblers and nine to the Knights. Both teams skated hard and made it an exciting well played game. Both goalies had about the same number of shot fired at them (25/26) but Jon Hamlin did have a couple of dribblers that slipped under the pads. However, the Ramblers have relied upon their scoring to win their games this year and Nipawin's defense shut down the quick passing combination plays that have distinguished the Rambler's grip on the Pasquia league leadership.
The last regular season home game is this Saturday night when the Ramblers meet the Mistatim Warriors. The Warriors have been playing superior hockey lately having trammeled the Hunters last Saturday night and are expected to put on a good show here. The Ramblers have a series of away games before they start into the provincial play downs. Saturday night's game will be one of those games you won't want to miss.
