Mar 16, 2015 | PaulF | 953 views
ETA Playoffs (Rd 2) Game #1 vs. Markham Waxers
On Saturday March 7th, the Minor Bantam Predators hosted the Markham Waxers in game one of the ETA Quarterfinals.
The first period was played like the first round of a boxing match with the teams looking satisfied to feel each other out. The period was played mainly in the neutral zone with a few decent chances at each end. With the period almost at an end, the Preds made a bad clearing pass and got trapped in their own zone allowing Markham to score with just three tenths of a second left on the clock to take a 1-0 lead.
The Preds seemed to take offence to that injustice and stormed out of the gates in the second. Led by some great physical play from Ben Schreyer, the Preds had the Waxers back on their heels for the entire period. Fittingly, it was Ben that scored the equalizer midway through the period and then gained the Preds a power play when he was tripped on a breakaway. The Preds were able to capitalize again later in the period when Jake Partridge got a breakaway of his own and beat the Waxers goalie with a great move. The Preds added a third later in the period when Brad Brown picked the top corner from the point to give the team some breathing room going into the third.
The third period belonged to Preds defence that limited the Markham snipers to just a few shots and what chances they did get, were turned away by goaltender Brandon Small. Late in the third, Travis Sawyer took a pass from Ben Schreyer and beat the goalie over the shoulder to secure the victory 4-1 and give the Prdes a 1-0 series advantage heading to Markham the next day.