Sparks Fly in a Fierce Game 2

The battle continues to push onward as the Maulers faced off against the Southern Oregon Spartans for the second time this weekend. The tides have turned and the team came out and played in a whole different light. The defensive forces were stronger and more aggressive and the forwards were constantly circling the puck and played as physically as they could. For most of the game, they were making some incredibly hard hits and were butting heads with many of the Spartans players. You can tell that the boys are starting to get more and more with chippy with each passing minute they are still in Oregon so it should be an interesting game in the Outdoor Classic. I can only predict that the mitts will be dropped more than once and an entire chirp fest will be going on between the two teams. Stockholm native Sebastian Gronborg was our tendy last night and it was great to finally get to see him suited up and in the cage again. This was his second time as a starting goaltender this season but hopefully we will gradually see more and more of him throughout the season. Also Gronborg put up with some major beatings tonight from the Spartans' attackers seeing that they crashed the net twice and completely wiped him out while he was freezing the puck both times. Props to Sebastian but to also to all of the blueliners on the team. They were working over time tonight and kept up with every pace of the game.

Spartans Forward Arturs Buss was the only player to score in the first period. His goal came 24 seconds before the period ending buzzer. The assist was given to forward Justus Saldeen.

Corey Schafer was put the Maulers on the board an amazing 35 seconds after the start of the second period. Apples were given to veteran defenseman Tyler Zandhuisen and rookie forward Nikita Sheptytskyy. This goal was unfortunately the last goal of the game for the Maulers.

In the third period, the Spartans lit the lamp 3 times for a 4-1 final. Forward #14 Tyler Spencer scored 2 out of the 3 goals, but his first one came 14 minutes and 2 seconds after the start of the period. He had a little help from forward #17 Taylor McConnell and Cy Jenson. Jason Henry, who played for the last part of the 2012-2013 season with the Maulers, scored 26 seconds later. Assists were given to his brother Ben Henry and forward #13 Austin Sartorius. At 18:02, Tyler Spencer found the back of the net again to score his second goal of the game. The puck was fed to him by Austin Sartorius and Arturs Buss. This was the last of the game.

The boys are headed to play on outdoor ice for the third and final game of this series. It is on a property outside of Medford called the Klamath Ice Sports - Bill Collier Community Ice Arena. This Outdoor Classic will not be filmed live instead to my understanding they will film it and upload the video after the game is over. I will have full coverage on that for all of you. The game will be played at 1:30 PST (2:30 MST) so tune in if you can! Hopefully they will play all of their cards right and come back to Zoo town with a well deserved win in the books. Good luck boys and fight, fight, fight!

During the first period (on my laptop)

Statistics:

PENALTIES:

Period 1:

Missoula Maulers - Erik Hartzell (Boarding) 2 Minutes, 9:05

Southern Oregon Spartans - Cy Jenson (Roughing) 2 Minutes, 12:10

Period 2: 

Southern Oregon Spartans - Mike Kowicki (Interference) 2 Minutes, 8:05

Period 3:

Southern Oregon Spartans - Justus Saldeen (Slashing) 2 Minutes, 9:52

Missoula Maulers - Henrik Ekestahl (Holding) 2 Minutes, 15:51

Missoula Maulers - Connor McNally (Roughing) (Double Minor) 4 Minutes, 15:51

Southern Oregon Spartans - Taylor McConnell (Slashing) 2 Minutes, 18:29

Southern Oregon Spartans - Trevor Hillman (Unsportsmanlike Conduct) (Misconduct) 10 Minutes, 20:00

SHOTS ON GOAL:

Missoula Maulers - 33 total

Southern Oregon Spartans - 32 total

POWER PLAYS:

Missoula Maulers - 0 for 4

Southern Oregon Spartans - 1 for 4 

GOALTENDERS:

#1 Sebastian Gronborg for Missoula Maulers: 60 Minutes played, 32 shots on goal 28 saves 

#30 Ian Dvorak for Southern Oregon Spartans: 60 Minutes played, 33 shots on goal 32 saves