The first period was typical game between the Blues and the Bandits, and typical of all the Jr. Blues games of late. Speed and defense on both sides says it all so far. The game is scoreless after one period as Gabe Antoni was flawless in the net for the Blue and Gold. The Bandits controlled the puck for the most part and took the majority of the face offs.
Cody Kohn shined on defense each shift he was on the ice. Ethan Nauman got another break away, but was unable to get the puck past the Bandit Goalie. Still the Blues played well over all during the first period as the defense held St. Louis at bay. Give credit to the Bandits though, they played much better than at the last meeting in December.
The second period was more speed and defense with all of it “in a hurry”! The Blues scored at the 1:31 mark on a goal by (who else of late) Josef Pontasch with an assist by Chris Sitler. The Bandits tied it at 1 – 1 at 10:51 on a Dichiara goal, but the Blues defense kicked it up a notch and the offense took a few lessons from the “D”. Tyler Rehm gave the Blues back the lead at 16:41 with a little help from Sitler and Jordan Johnson. Just under a minute and one half later Kyle Cook got into the scoring column with assists from Kevin Walters and Josef Pontasch to make the score 3 – 1 after two periods. Again the defense played with fire in their eyes to keep the Bandits off balance.
The Blues went up in a hurry at :37 seconds into the third and led 4 – 1. The Bandits retaliated with a goal of their own at 3:12, then scored again at 16:38 to get back within a goal. The Bandits pulled their goalie, but the Blues defense held up against six attackers and the Blue and Gold prevailed 4 – 3.
The same two teams drop the puck at 7:00 pm again tomorrow night for the last regular season home game at the Nelson Center.
Cody Kohn was given the third star of the game, Kalisz for St. Louis was given second star and Josef Pontasch was named first star of the game.
