COLORADO GRIT HOCKEY

 

The scoring started in a hurry in the first period as Poirier spotted the Grit to a 1-0 lead. Lucas Mann forced a turnover behind the New Mexico net and tossed a backhand pass to the front of the net. Poirier blasted a shot past Ice Wolve goaltender Gavin Schahn just 1:19 into the first period. Less than 30 seconds later, New Mexico forward Johnny Johansson parked at the edge of the crease and tipped a shot from the point underneath Erickson to tie the game, 1-1, with 18:11 to play in the period. Both teams had a power play opportunity midway through the frame, but were unable to convert. The scoreline remained knotted at 1-1 headed into the first intermission.

 

The two teams battled through an even second period with few chances for either side for the duration of the frame. Both teams had a power play chance and neither could convert. The Grit penalty kill has been perfect over the past three games and used the success to buoy their offense late in the period. Poirier forced a takeaway in the defensive zone and steamed the length of the ice, powered to the front of the net, and punched the puck past Schahn to give Colorado the lead, 2-1, with 1:57 left.

 

Looking for an insurance marker, Colorado’s second line came through. Alex German sped over the Ice Wolve blue line and laid a drop pass for a trailing Lucas Mann. Mann blistered a wrist shot over the left pad of Schahn and into the net for his first goal of the season to double the lead, 3-1, with 15:41 remaining in regulation. From there, Erickson became the star of the show. The netminder was peppered with a 22-shot onslaught in the final period, punctuated by a late New Mexico power play and extra attacker for the final three minutes. Erickson made five saves on the power play and as the Ice Wolves got back to full strength, an Andrew Earl snapshot finally pierced the Grit defense to make it a one-goal contest, 3-2, with 10.7 seconds left in regulation. Aiming for a tying goal, a post-whistle skirmish broke out between Evan Smutney and Tanner George. The two tossed shoves and attempted punches before the linesman separated the pair with five seconds left. The crowd of 450 rose to their feet as the final buzzer sounded and Colorado poured off the bench to close the book on their third win in four games.

 

A tight, defensive first period didnt yield much offense for the Grit. Neither team was able to generate anything other than shots to goal until late in the period. Ice Wolve defenseman Max Matthews snapped a shot that was redirected by Stanley Hubbard and skittered past Erickson to give the visitors a 1-0 lead with 3:49 left in the period. The Grit’s lone power play opportunity was turned aside in the final two minutes of the period.

 

The Grit offense got to work early in the second period when Chris Graves banged a rebound past New Mexico goaltender Jackson Fuller to tie the game, 1-1, just 2:39 into the period. 

 

Despite only two combined power plays, the physicality turned up a notch when Alec Babineau and New Mexico defenseman Sean Smith exchanged punches a mere 30 seconds after Graves tied the game. The penalty boxes got more crowded right away when Lucas Mann and Johnny Johansson got into a scrap with 14:40 left in the frame. After the fisticuffs, Graves’ third goal of the season held the scoreline level until Ben Rakowski took advantage of a freak carom to give Colorado the lead. A wrist shot pinged off the end glass and hit Fuller in front of the net; Rakowski got his stick to the puck and jabbed it home to give the Grit a 2-1 lead with 12:57 left in the second period. Right before the intermission, Nick Noble received a cross-ice pass from Willy Johnson and rifled a shot past Fuller to open up the lead, 3-1, with 35 seconds left in the second period.

 

The third period settled into a scrappy, defensive twenty minutes as the Grit looked to finish off the win. Erickson was a perfect 11-for-11 on save attempts to curtail any comeback efforts from the visitors. Midway through the period, New Mexico forward Bryce Johnson rang the crossbar and the puck sailed out of play and keeping it a two-goal deficit. With 2:45 remaining in regulation, the Ice Wolves pulled their goaltender for the extra attacker. The Grit had multiple efforts at the empty net, but couldn’t hit the target. A late minor penalty to Alex German meant New Mexico had a two-man advantage for the final 45 seconds, but still couldn’t solve Erickson. After two more stops, the final buzzer sounded and the Grit picked up the victory.

A franchise record 52 shots from the Grit offense and a combined 40-save effort from Grit goaltenders Pete Sterling and Jack Erickson weren’t enough to earn the Grit an extra point as they fell 3-2 in the shootout to the visiting Amarillo Wranglers on Saturday afternoon.

 

The franchise record in shots hit the high water mark in the opening twenty minutes as the Colorado offense peppered Amarillo goaltender Charlie Zolin with 21 shots in the first period. The fireworks weren’t restricted to the shot count as Wrangler enforcer Divyne Apollon and Grit center Ethan McEneany exchanged haymakers at center ice and earned fighting majors with just 4:04 gone in the first period. The scoreline stayed knotted at zero until the tail end of the frame when winger Ben Rakowski took advantage of a turnover outside the Wrangler zone. The low wrist shot beat Zolin to the glove side and Rakowski’s fourth goal of the season gave the Grit a 1-0 lead with just 54 seconds remaining in the first period.

 

Colorado began the second period on a power play, but were unable to convert en route to finishing 0-for-5 on the man advantage during the contest. Early in the period, a fortunate bounce of the puck off Amarillo forward Alex Aleslov’s stick caromed past Sterling to tie the game, 1-1, with 14:12 left in the second period. Sterling battled an 18-shot onslaught in the second period, but was victimized by a second unfortunate bounce later in the frame. A loose puck kicked off a Grit defender and right to Aleslov, who potted his second goal of the period past a sliding Sterling to give Amarillo their first lead of the night, 2-1, with 8:42 remaining in the second period. Although Colorado was outshot in the period, Sterling’s 32 total saves kept the Grit within one, 2-1, headed into the second intermission.

 

A new period brought a renewed focus for the Colorado offense and a new goaltender, as Jack Erickson replaced Sterling, who left the game with an apparent injury after two periods. Erickson was hardly tested in the third period as the Grit offense surged forward, outshooting Amarillo 14-3 in the final twenty minutes while searching for a tying tally. Center Willy Johnson made his own luck just under halfway through the third period. He whipped a puck towards the goal, watched it pinball off two Wranglers and past Zolin to equalize the score, 2-2, with 10:07 left in regulation. The Grit were again unable to convert on a power play in the final five minutes off regulation as the two teams headed to the overtime session tied at 2.

 

Overtime provided each squad with a 2-on-1 opportunity – Erickson snuffed out the Wrangler advance and Ben Rakowski’s wrist shot just missed on the glove side of Charlie Zolin. A shootout beckoned after 65 minutes of hockey weren’t enough to find a victor. With both sides securing at least a point, Corson Maguire ensured the Wranglers got the extra point with a heavy wrist shot over Erickson’s glove as the only tally of the shootout to push the visitors into the win column, 3-2.

Three different Grit goalscorers and a 35-save effort from goaltender Jack Erickson punctuated Teddy Bear Toss Night in Greeley as the Grit snapped a six-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over Amarillo on Friday night.

 

The Grit opened the scoring early in the first period when winger Alec Babineau netted his first goal as a member of the Grit. A weak backhander slipped past Wrangler goaltender Charles-Antoine Girard to spot Colorado the lead, 1-0, just 6:50 into the period. A pair of successful penalty kills provided the Grit another momentum boost and the home side turned another fortuitous bounce to double their advantage. Evan Smutney ripped a shot from the edge of the zone that kicked off the end boards, Girard’s right skate, and into the back of the net to give Colorado a 2-0 lead with 5:38 remaining in the first period, which they would take into the first intermission. 

 

The Grit took advantage on the power play to balloon the lead even further early in the middle frame. Alex German took a spinning forehand pass from winger George Poirier and snapped a wrist shot past Girard to lift Colorado further ahead, 3-0, with 15:01 left in the second period. Amarillo converted on a power play of their own midway through the period; Sal Cerrato rifled a shot past Erickson’s glove and spoiled a shutout bid with 10:10 left in the second period to make the scoreline 3-1. A bouncing puck found Trace Day in the high slot and he punched the puck past Erickson to bring the visitors within a goal, 3-2, with 15 seconds left in the second period.

 

Each side again had an early power play opportunity in the opening five minutes of the third period, but unlike the second, neither were able to convert. After a wide-open pace fir the first forty minutes, things tightened up towards the finish line as Colorado tried to hang on to their one-goal lead. Amarillo ripped 13 shots at Erickson in the final frame and the Grit netminder parried away each one. The Wranglers called their timeout with under ninety seconds to play and lifted Girard for the extra attacker. Frustration set in at the final buzzer as the Wranglers were unable to convert and a line brawl ensued with less than second to play on the far wing boards. After the officials culled the chaos, the puck was dropped and the final 0.5 seconds ran off the clock as the Grit polished off the victory.