COLORADO GRIT HOCKEY

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.

An early goal from Ben Rakowski and a perfect penalty kill were not enough to get the Grit back into the win column as Colorado fell 2-1 to El Paso on Saturday night.

 

Physicality from the previous night carried over into Saturday’s contest early on when Grit defenseman Alex German and Rhino forward Rasmus Nousianien dropped the gloves and earned game misconducts for fighting less than five minutes after puck drop. The Grit penalty kill notched their first of six successful efforts when Carson Pavlowich picked up a high-sticking minor with 13:43 left in the first period. The minor was followed up by rookie Cole Peters earned his first career major penalty for a heavy check from behind as Colorado’s defensive corps would be shorthanded for the rest of the first period. It was the Grit’s power play that got the scoring going when Rakowski punched the puck past El Paso goalie Joey LoVullo for his third goal of the season to give the Grit the lead, 1-0, with 3:01 left in the first period.

 

The Rhinos turned on the offense in the second period, spraying 15 shots in the direction of Colorado netminder Pete Sterling. After an early offensive flurry from the Grit in the opening four minutes, the home side turned up the heat. Matching roughing minors to Kennan Reyelts and Jacob Solano were merely a bump in the road for Sterling, who finished the night with 30 saves. Colorado’s penalty kill was put to work twice more during the middle period after a pair of penalties taken by the goal scorer Rakowski. Between Sterling and the penalty kill, Colorado was able to take their 1-0 lead into the second intermission.

 

El Paso kept knocking on the door, but Sterling continued to stonewall the home side with three more stops in the opening five minutes of the period. With 13:04 left in the third period, the Rhinos finally found a breakthrough when forward Ryder Many Grey Horses pushed the puck past Sterling for his fourth goal of the year to tie the score, 1-1. Less than ninety seconds later, Many Grey Horses doubled up and snapped a shot past Sterling to give the Rhinos their first lead of the night, 2-1, with 11:40 remaining in regulation. The Grit pulled Sterling for the extra attacker with 1:40 remaining and pushed two more shots towards LoVullo but were unable to find a tying tally as the final buzzer sounded.

 

Both teams worked through a physical start to the contest and didn’t have a shot on goal until Graves found space and pocketed his second goal of the year past Rhino netminder Michael Manzi to give Colorado an early 1-0 lead just 3:24 into the contest. Shots continued to be at a premium in the opening period, but the home side was able to find an equalizer. Winger Ben Norris beat Grit netminder Jack Erickson, polishing off a feed from Paavo Hiltunen, to tie the score at 1-1 with 8:49 remaining in the first period.

 

The Grit penalty kill was pressed into service in the middle frame and was forced to kill off three separate minor penalties. For the first time in seven games, the opposing power play generated a goal when a snapshot from El Paso’s Alexandre Pellerin slipped past Erickson and pushed the Rhinos ahead, 2-1, with 9:51 left in the period. Erickson gave his offense every chance he could while making 14 of his 29 saves in the middle frame. Twice, the Grit had power plays wiped out by penalties and the second time, the Rhinos used the open ice to pad their lead. Hiltunen added to his multi-point evening when he scored with 36 seconds left in the frame to give the home side a 3-1 lead headed to the second intermission.

 

The third period featured an early push from forwards George Poirier and Sheldon Rioux, who both nearly beat Manzi in the period’s opening six minutes. Looking for a goal to tighten the contest, the tally instead went the other direction. With 9:27 left in regulation, Ryder Many Gray Horses slipped the puck past Erickson to make the score 4-1 and effectively put the game on ice. The fireworks didn’t end there, however. Moments later, defenseman Evan Smutney objected to a cross-check from Rhino forward Duke Gentzler and the paid dropped the gloves and were given game misconducts for fighting. With just over six minutes remaining, Reyelts and Many Gray Horses exchanged post-whistle penalties as frustration continued to mount for Colorado down the stretch. The final act was a match penalty for spearing given to forward Luc Bydal with two minutes remaining as the Grit killed off a major power play until the final buzzer sounded.

 

The IceRays capitalized on a few defensive lapses to secure a lead towards the middle of the first period. IceRay captain Pierson Sobush ripped a snap shot over the glove of Grit netminder Jack Erickson to push the visitors ahead, 1-0, with 8:06 remaining in the first period. The Grit penalty kill showcased its consistency to end the first period – two consecutive penalty kills over the final five minutes of the frame while fending off a 12-shot period brought the Grit into the first intermission, 1-0.

 

Colorado, who hasn’t played a home game in a month, started off the second period with a major offensive push. They were rewarded on the power play when Chris Graves pumped a wrist shot past Corpus Christi goaltender Nikita Volsky to tie the game, 1-1, and net his first goal of the season with 15 minutes left in the second period. The two teams did not stay on level terms for long when IceRays Cody Kempf scored 28 seconds later, besting Colorado goalie Jack Erickson with a wrist shot that deflected off a skate to make the score 2-1 with 14:26 left in the second period. For the second time in the period, the power play got to work again. Ben Rakowski belted a snap shot past Volsky to tie the score, 2-2,  with 1:12 before intermission. 

 

Both teams fended away power play opportunities in the opening half of the third, as for the third time in three meetings, a close finish beckoned between the IceRays and the Grit. The visitors benefitted from a freak carom a second time when winger Stepan Kuznetsov banked a shot off Erickson from below the goal line. The puck squeaked through to provide the IceRays a 3-2 lead with 4:18 to go. The Grit pulled the netminder to hunt an equalizer in the final ninety seconds, but a late empty-netter by Sobush sealed the victory and gave the IceRays a 4-2 lead with 55 seconds remaining.