MULTIMEDIA







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The Waxers traveled to Oshawa Tuesday night for
their first game of the 2001 calendar year. Since their last game, before Christmas,
the time off has been good for the blue and white as the lineup, racked by
injuries was able to return at almost full strength.
The first period saw the Legionaires strike
twice as they jumped out to a 2-0 lead before the Waxers could answer. With
four minutes remaining in the frame, Kevin
Tompkins tucked in the first Waxer goal of the night with a nifty deke,
going right to left making good a setup from Kevin
Cribari and Jesse
Boucher. If there had been any momentum shift with the second Oshawa
goal it evaporated with Tompkins' effort.
Mark
Menonte scored a pretty goal seven minutes into the second period,
converting a play created by the passing of Adam
Doucette and Paul
Robinson. That tied the game at 2-2 apiece. Robinson followed with the
game winner, on a powerplay, from Menonte and Adam Doucette to give the Waxers
the lead for the first time.
With five minutes remaining in the middle
period, Jason Young and Steve
Nobili combined on a superb heads-up goal that iced the win. Oshawa's
lone defender passed to clear the defensive blueline but Young forechecking,
knocked the pass down, spun around to gain full control, meanwhile Nobili had
spotted the turnover and ducked in behind the defender to receive a short pass
from Young, Nobili made no mistake on the breakaway, making it 4-2. Less than a
minute later Adam Doucette scored what would turn out to be the game's final
goal, Robinson and Menonte picked up assists.
The trio of Doucette, Menonte and Robinson was a
treat to watch but the other line combinations were no less effective. The
Waxers played with a controlled tempo, utilizing their speed up front
effectively to create opportunities and simply outworking the opposition.
The return of Alex
Stoyan was noticed by everyone, the arena may still be rocking. Alex
laid out more punishment in a few minutes than many clubs dish out in a season
(okay, maybe an exaggeration but not by much), several of his hits were
punishing ones and could be termed as "collisions".
A couple of other Waxers were very much factors
in the victory but don't appear on the scoresheet: Jimmy
Ball played a regular shift and saw duty on special teams and Jason
Fraccaro continues to demonstrate his outstanding forechecking skills
and he's developing into one of the finest all around forwards in the league
(his offense will come).
Dan
Leclair earned the victory in net and shut the door after the
Legionaires early flurry and turned aside 24 of 26 shots he faced.
The return of the injured obviously was a
significant factor in the contest, but while the Waxers dominated much of the
play in the first two periods and were the better club, there was some rust
evident, likely from the lack of "game activity". That
"rust" will disappear and the Waxers look to be well positioned to
make a final push with just 11 games remaining on the regular season slate.
Friday night the Waxers host the Vaughan Vipers
at Markham Centennial, game time is 8:00pm.
G A M
E S U M M A R Y |
PERIOD
1
1. Oshawa, Matthews (MacRuey, Peneycad), 3:25.
2. Oshawa, Matthews (Peneycad, Smith), 14:40.
3. Markham, Tompkins 10 (Cribari, Boucher), 15:59.
PENALTIES:
Uniacke OSH (tripping), 0:53; AStoyan Mar
(slashing), 5:44; Pons OSH (high sticking), 10:21; Seres OSH
(slashing), Kelly Mar (roughing after whistle), Leclair Mar
(slashing), 17:53; Rankine OSH (double roughing after whistle),
Mitchell Mar (roughing after whistle), 18:38.
PERIOD
2
4. Markham, Menonte 18 (ADoucette, Robinson), 6:50.
5. Markham, Robinson 12 (PP) (Menonte, ADoucette), 11:54.
6. Markham, Nobili 4 (Young), 15:18.
7. Markham, ADoucette 27 (Menonte, Robinson), 16:09.
PENALTIES:
Matthews OSH (interference), 10:56; AStoyan Mar (roughing after
whistle), 20:00.
PERIOD
3
No Scoring.
PENALTIES:
AStoyan Mar (holding), 2:43; Matthews OSH (roughing), Gronross OSH
(holding), ADoucette Mar (roughing), 6:26; Gronross OSH
(aggressor, fighting, game misconduct), ADoucette Mar (fighting,
game misconduct), 18:42.
GOALTENDERS:
Markham: Dan Leclair. Oshawa: Chris Whitley.
|
SHOTS ON
GOAL |
P1 |
P2 |
P3 |
OT |
FINAL |
MARKHAM
WAXERS |
12 |
13 |
5 |
- |
30 |
OSHAWA
LEGIONAIRES |
16 |
7 |
3 |
- |
26 |
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