Friday, November 26th, 2021 Creston 3 Rockets 2
Friday night in Golden saw a key Eddie Mountain Divisional game, as the Creston ThunderCats made their first visit to the Plywood Palace, where they prevailed on the scoreboard, edging out the Rockets 3-2.
ThunderCats came out skating hard directly from the opening face-off, controlling much of the territorial play. That pressure paid off at 6:28 as Ben Narowski’s snapshot from the left point found its way through heavy traffic in front of the Golden net.
Rockets weren’t to be denied however as, with 90 seconds left in the period, the powerplay went to work and connected, with Nathan Kaye pulling the trigger at 18:48, as his solid wrist shot from twenty feet out found the top corner. Aidan Ballance and Liam Furlong picked up assists on the play.
Golden’s penalty-kill was put to the test as the second period started, with Creston enjoying a lengthy powerplay opportunity. But the Rockets were not only equal to the task, but caught some spark as well. With the play fairly even throughout the middle stanza, the local stars managed to move into the lead at 2-1, with their second powerplay goal of the game. At 6:49, with Jordan Lario and Liam Furlong (with his 2nd assist of the game) working the puck deep into the offensive end, Rocket’s Brydon Foster banged home a rebound from a scramble in front of the Creston goal.
Golden was looking to extend that lead around the midway mark of the frame, as Aidan Ballance utilized his tremendous speed to break around the Creston defence, but was robbed by ThunderCats goalie Carlos Siso.
At the start of the final period, Creston was again on the powerplay, and swarmed the Golden end of the ice. However, Levi Hall (back between the pipes for the Rockets after being out for several games) came up huge, with no less than four outstanding saves, preserving the 2-1 Golden lead.
But later on in the frame, the visitors were successful in putting the puck behind Hall, after a loose puck in the crease area found the mark. Creston continued to apply great pressure in the Golden end until, at 9:32 they found the go-ahead tally on a one-timer by Clayton Brown, which proved to be the winner. Rockets started to move and pressure Creston in their end of the ice to find the equalizer, but couldn’t get another by Siso.
Final score was 3-2. Creston outshot the Rockets 38-27.
Rockets still displaying great signs of continued improvement as the season moves along. Despite the loss, the club remains in the thick of the race in the tough Eddie Mountain Division. Just a mere 7 points separates first and fifth place in the standings.
