After their strong showing at the Phoenix Jr. Polars Midget-AA
Presidents' Day Tournament, the Santa Clara Blackhawks suffered a letdown
on their return to NORCAL play, managing only a 4-4 tie against the Oakland
Bears. The Blackhawks squandered a 3-1 second period lead, and a
4-2 third-period lead, and then were unable to score the game-winner after
Oakland tied the contest with just five minutes to play. It was a
big point for the Bears, who are in a battle for the fourth and final NORCAL
playoff spot. For Santa Clara, it was an in-your-face wake-up call
that at this level of hockey, nothing is guaranteed.
The Blackhawks were missing four players today, including a couple of
their better forecheckers and one of their leading scorers. But they
have played well with key missing pieces in the past, so that was no excuse
today. On the other end of the ice, Oakland moved the puck well,
and although they were outshot by the Hawks 42-24, many of the Bears' shots
were very good scoring chances, Goaltender Sam
Boyer made at least a half-dozen lights-out saves throughout the contest.
The Blackhawks' offensive attack, which is normally quite balanced, was
less so today. Patrick Castagna,
Phillip
Wong, and Billy Kiernan led the offensive
charge, each registering three points. Castagna
had two goals and an assist,
Wong notched
one goal and two helpers, and Kiernan
had a playmaker, assisting on three goals.. Jeremy
Mamon scored the other Blackhawks' goal, and Dustin
Holt also had an assist.
Oakland was first on the board today, and it was a giveaway behind their
own net by the Blackhawks that set the table for the point-blank, one-timer
goal at 9:04 of the first period. Oakland had another chance later,
at 4:32, on a similar one-timer pass out front, but goaltender Sam
Boyer dropped quickly to stuff the shot and prevent Oakland from extending
its lead to 2-0. Off the rejection, Phillip
Wong gathered in the puck and took a big hit along the left side boards
in order to get off a nice headman pass to Billy
Kiernan at the Bears' blueline. Kiernan
collected the puck and passed to the middle where Patrick
Castagna had room to grab it and whistle off a top-corner, roof rocket
beyond the goalie's outstretched glove. At 2:08, Santa Clara extended
its lead to 2-1 on the first of two shorthanded goals that they would score
on the day. After a Sam Boyer
save, Billy Kiernan swept in from the
slot and grabbed a loose puck and swept it around the boards. The
puck hit a seam and deflected toward center ice, where Patrick
Castagna got to it just ahead of a defender, tipping it ahead to himself.
Castagna
generated a breakaway in the process, skating in and then making a great
move to his forehand, before slipping the puck into the back of the net
to give the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead to close out the period..
The second period opened with twenty-three seconds left on Oakland's
power play and they wasted no time executing a couple of good shots.
But Sam Boyer was all over them, first with
a toe save, then a close-range rejection on the follow-up at 14:32, and
then finally with a glovehand snag at 14:11. Boyer
made two more heads-up saves on a Oakland power play that started at 9:03.
First, he denied a Bears scoring chance on a glovehand save through traffic
at 7:42, and then he made a lightning quick save off a face-off shot at
7:27. Santa Clara followed up with a couple of good chances of their
own. Mitch Venosta deflected a Kevin
Brown slapshot at 6:40, but that shot was stopped; and then Jason
Pacheco hit the post on a shot at 5:20. But it wasn't until 4:22
that anyone scored in the period, and it was the Blackhawks who lit the
lamp first. With Jeremy Mamon battling
for posession behind the Oakland net, Phillip
Wong came around and grabbed the disk when it squirted free. Wong
skated to the other side of the net and centered a pass to Billy
Kiernan, who spun and fired a low, hard shot on net. The Bears'
backstop made a pad save, but an alert Jeremy
Mamon had gotten back into the play and he swept the rebound through
the goalie's 5-hole for the score, increasing Santa Clara's lead to 3-1.
The Bears came right back however, with a goal at 2:10. Again, it
was an Oakland skater in front of the net collecting a one-timer pass for
the score, making it 3-2. But the period wasn't over just yet.
The Blackhawks picked up their tenth penalty of the game at 1:16, giving
Oakland their sixth chance on the power play. For the second time
in the contest, the Hawks responded with a shorthanded goal. Patrick
Castagna started the play by wining a face-off in his own end, back
to Dustin Holt, who immediate sent the
puck off the boards and into the Bears' zone. The zone clearing pass
ended up leading Phillip Wong just perfectly.
Wong
split the defenders and outraced them to the puck, collecting it and zipping
a shot glovehand side for the score, making it 4-2 at 0:27.
Oakland never gave up and they got the game back to within a single
goal when they converted on the power play at 7:49. Oakland then
picked up two quick penalties in a span of just eighteen seconds, giving
Clara a 1:42, two-man advantage that starting at the 7:12 mark. With
a chance to once again extend their lead to two goals, the Blackhawks failed
to convert. The big penalty kill inspired the Bears and they responded
by tying it up shortly after they returned to full strength. The
equalizer came at 5:02, and the Hawks responded with a viscous offensive
assault that generated several good shots, but no more goals. The
contest ended with game-saving saves at both ends of the ice. Sam
Boyer made a pad save on an Oakland power play at 0:59, and then Patrick
Castagna was denied when he got inside on the goaltender with just
two seconds left on the clock.
Santa Clara looks to get back on track in their final home game of the
regular season, a Friday night affair next week against the third-place,
Tri-Valley Blue Devils. Tri-Valley is coming off a very successful
Presidents' Day tournament, having gone 4-1-0 to win the AA division of
the Glacial Garden tournament in Southern California. The Devils
are sure to be fired up and ready to avenge their two, close regular season
losses to the Hawks.
Oakland - 4
| TEAMS |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
TOTAL |
| Oakland
Bears |
1 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
| Santa
Clara |
2 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
Scoring Summary
First Period
Scoring: 1, Oakland, #30 (Krcik), 9:04.
2, Blackhawks, Castagna 13 (Kiernan, Wong), 4:22. 3, Blackhawks,
Castagna 14 (Kiernan), 2:08 (sh). Penalties: #9, Oakland,
(hooking), 13:23; Kiernan, Santa Clara (crosscheck), 12:40;
Pacheco, Santa Clara (crosscheck), 6:33; Quirolo, Santa Clara (hooking),
3:21; Holt, Santa Clara (high-sticking), 1:37.
Second Period
Scoring: 4, Blackhawks, Mamon 8 (Kiernan,
Wong), 3:25. 5, Oakland, Valovich (Foster, Macor), 2:10. 6,
Blackhawks, Wong 2 (Holt, Castagna), 0:27 (sh). Penalties:
Mamon, Santa Clara (roughing), 13:42; Tan, Oakland (tripping), 13:42;
Venosta, Santa Clara (roughing), 10:03; Macor, Oakland (interference),
10:03; Brown, Santa Clara (crosscheck), 9:03; Lavarias, Santa
Clara (roughing), 9:03; #30, Oakland (roughing), 9:03; Kotval,
Santa Clara (roughing), 8:42; Tan, Oakland (roughing), 8:42;
Walker, Oakland (high-sticking), 7:24; Mamon, Santa Clara (holding),
1:16.
Third Period
Scoring: 7, Oakland, Castoro (Valovich),
7:47 (pp). 8, Oakland, Foster (#30), 5:02. Penalties:
Kiernan, Santa Clara (head contact), 9:03; Castagna, Santa Clara
(roughing), 7:30; Uhlrig, Oakland (double-minor, roughing), 7:30;
#30, Oakland (slashing), 7:12; Gagliardi, Santa Clara (high-sticking),
2:21.
SHOTS ON GOAL
| Oakland |
7
|
8
|
9
|
--24 |
| Santa Clara |
9
|
21
|
12
|
--42 |
Power-play Conversions: Santa Clara: 0 of 4;
Oakland: 1 of 8. Goalies: Santa Clara, Boyer (24 shots, 20
saves; record 4-0-1). Oakland, Concannon (42 shots, 38 saves).
Plus/Minus: +3(Lavarias);
+2(Kiernan,
Wong); +1(Castagna); even(Brown, Gagliardi, Kotval,
Quirolo, Yedlicka); -1(Holt, Mamon, Venosta);
-2(Pacheco);
DNP(Costa,
Dragotto, Fredericks, Shore).
Game Winning Goal: None
Santa
Clara Mauls Bears in Offensive Showcase, 11-2
