Make it seven wins in the last eight at home for the Dieppe Commandos as they took down an incredibly talented Yarmouth Mariners team 4-3 in OT last night. After building a 3-1 lead and fighting an uphill battle against circumstances beyond their control, the Commandos bent but didn't break and wound up with perhaps their most gratifying victory of the season so far.
Beating most teams in the MHL on any given night is tough. Beating the Mariners is very tough. Beating them while being shorthanded nine times in a game is exceptionally tough. It all happened last night at the AJL.
I'm not getting too deep into what I thought of the officiating job offered up by Lyndon Pike last night. As I've said numerous times, the view of the play from ice level can sometimes look different than the view of the play from the stands or press box. Last night it looked exceptionally different. Different enough to safely say there were too many lapses in judgement by the man wearing the armband last night. It was one of the few sour notes to this otherwise excellent game.
The shots wound up bring 41-20 in favor of Yarmouth, but this was a game where the score reflected the closeness of the game rather than the shot clock (which doesn't actually exist in the AJL, much to my chagrin). Yarmouth generated their share of shots while on the man advantage, but the Commandos did what can only be called a spectacular job of keeping the Mariners to the outside. Most every conceivable quality offensive lane was cut off. Very seldom did the Commandos get caught chasing the puck. The only goal scored with the man advantage by Yarmouth - courtesy of former Cape Breton Screaming Eagle Kyle Campbell - wasn't about to be stopped by anyone... a perfect three way passing play between him, Colin Campbell and Josh Desmond. Desmond's cross ice pass to Kyle Campbell was harder than many shots directed towards the goal on this night.
Speaking of shots, when they did get through, Connor Wilkinson was there. In what was one of his most technically sound games to date, Wilkinson stayed out in the blue paint, challenged shooters and in a game where most shots arrived to him from the fringes, he did a superb job of tracking the puck and denying rebounds. He also more than kept his team alive in overtime as the game was seemingly on the Mariners stick more than once.
Up front, it was the typical speed game generating offense for Dieppe. Alex Snow - who continues to play like a 19 year old instead of a 17 year old - capped off the first goal of the night by rushing into the slot, taking the behind the net feed from Lindon Beckwith and firing off a quick and accurate backhand (you ever try getting off a quick and accurate backhand on the fly? Aint easy.) and beating Mariners netminder Travis Wilkins up high. Zack Cahill's second goal of the game to make it 3-1 was another example of how speed can kill. After Rodney Mahoney blew a tire at his own blueline, Cahill jumped up, poked the puck free and sped in alone. With the initial shot stopped, Alex Murray put the rebound home... after Travis Wilkins dislodged the net. Penalty shot time. And with that Cahill - who might lead the league in breakaway goals (or at least breakaway attempts) made good on the reprieve.
However, it was the OT winner by Robbie Graham that typified the kind of game it was for Dieppe. Busting his way through the slot, the shifty center fired off the initial stop that Wilkins got a piece of. Now at the side of the net and in the midst of falling, he picked up the rebound and fired a backhand past the dropping Yarmouth goalie and into the net. In a game in which the Commandos had to grind, get the jump on the competition and battle for virtually everything, it was a fitting way to end the contest.
Dieppe claims it's 23rd victory of the season, besting their total from last year. As well, with the win over Yarmouth, the Commandos have now beaten every team in the league at least once... and proves yet again that they can put a scare into most anyone on any given night. They head out on the road this weekend with games in Bridgewater on Friday night and a rematch in Yarmouth on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Cats are back home tonight, facing off against Rimouski in a battle of two contending teams. Let's hope the "second period against Halifax" team shows up more than the "almost any game in December" version. And with that, it's off to the Coliseum to watch the "Penny-less" Wildcats as Moncton center Ryan Penny is still feeling the effects of the high hit dished out by Liam Alcade on Friday night... which incidentally, will be a loss felt more than what some may realize.
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