Tuesday, March 30, 2010 - Lancaster, PA
The Pennsylvania Deutschbags kept their white jersey record perfect in tournament play this past weekend by defeating the Night Owls 5-4 in a shootout.
After suffering two devastating losses wearing their dark jerseys, the Deutschbags donned their home whites, and the coaching staff made a move that even the most loyal fan would question.
The Deutschbags reassigned John Olinger to their AA affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Road Cones, and recalled center John Musella. The decision prompted comments from the fans such as, "They're exchanging goon for goon" and "They should just leave him on the Cones." The Deutschbags - and Musella - would soon silence the critics concerning a strategy that later proved to be brilliant.
As the game opened, the Night Owls jumped to a 1-0 lead in the first minute of play as Skip Holdenstick circled around the net and fed a centering pass to Jeff Indarightspot, who one-timed it past Deutschbag goalie Don Detwiler.
Soon after, Hank Fox scored his first of 2 in the game and the Deutschbags tied the score at 1.
The Night Owls would regain the lead in the second, but again only briefly. Two quick goals by Deutschbags center, Doug Grossman, gave the Deutschbags their first lead of the game - a 3-2 lead the Deutschbags would carry well into the third period.
Things appeared to be going the Deutschbags way until seven minutes into the third, when Night Owl winger Bob Ondernees fired a wrist shot from the right circle that deflected off Deutschbag defenseman Sam DeAngelo's skate and past Detwiler.
With the game knotted at 3, and just under 4 minutes left, the Night Owls scored again, giving them a 4-3 lead.
With 1:20 left in the game, Detwiler raced to the bench in exchange for the extra skater. After and icing call against the Night Owls, the Deutschbags lined up for what would probably be the final face-off. Center Doug Grossman won the draw back to Billy Smith, who fired a slap shot towards the net. Hank Fox tipped it in for his second goal of the game, knotting the score at 4-4 with just 40 seconds left to play.
When time expired the Deutschbag staff went to work, carefully choosing their shootout lineup. The Night Owls elected to shoot second in the OT period.
After both goalies stopped their first opposing shooter, Deutschbag winger Mike Cacace put the Deutschbags up 1-0 by getting the Night Owl goalie to bite on a beautiful move, and then slipping a backhander past him. The Night Owls' next skater responded by beating Detwiler high to the glove side.
Both goalies then came up huge, each stopping the next three opposing skaters.
And so the stage was set. Like a scene out of Youngblood, both benches and a thunderous crowd of 37 people rose to their feet as John "Moose" Musella circled the puck. Musella skated in and roofed a wrist shot that beat the Night Owl goalie high to the glove side, giving the Deutschbags a 2-1 shootout lead.
The Night Owls had one chance left. Their final skater, Juan Mochance, moved in and fired a wrist shot which Detwiler deftly stopped with his left pad, sealing the 5-4 Deutschbags win. Detwiler was outstanding in the net, stopping 5 of 6 shoot-out skaters.
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