A beginning and an end…came for two teams in 18 days spanning the period of December 29th through January 15th.
On December 28th, one team was 25-8-4 and in the midst of a three-game winning streak. The other was 14-19-5 after losing an overtime game to its arch-rival.
On December 29th the teams met. It should have been a one-sided game, and in a way it was. One player had four goals. Five players had multi-point games. One team had 12 players on the plus side of the ledger and only one on the minus side…
…it wasn’t the team with the 25 wins. That team gave up eight goals in the game – more than they’d given up in the three game winning streak they entered this game with, combined.
Meanwhile, the team with the 14 wins – now 15 – became the first team to defeat the team with 25 wins twice in this season.
On New Year’s Day, the teams met again. The team with the 25 wins scored first…then they scored again. Maybe those two wins by the team with 15 wins were a fluke, a couple of lucky punches. Surely, order was being restored.
Then, the team with the 15 wins scored…then they scored again…and again…and again. In barely 15 minutes of game time, the team with the 15 wins scored four goals. It was like watching Rocky Balboa coming back, bloodied and battered, with shot after shot to Apollo Creed’s ribs and jaw. When it was over, the team with the 15 wins – now 16 – had a 6-3 win, and became the first team to defeat the team with 25 wins three times this season.
Two weeks passed…the team with 25 wins won four of their next five, the team with 16 wins split four decisions. They met for one last time, the team with the 29 wins looking to avoid the embarrassment of a sweep at the hands of an inferior opponent. The team with the 18 wins was looking to climb just another game closer to .500.
The teams sparred against one another through the first period without either finding the back of the net. The team with the 18 wins scored early in the second. The other team came back to score and score again to take a lead. Then…a terrible giveaway, a deke, and another deke later, and the game was tied. A power play drive and a poked puck later, and it was the team with the 18 wins who came out on top, sweeping the four games played between the two for this season.
After that, the team with the 18 wins – now 19 – went on to finish the year 24-10-3. The other team, the one with the 29 wins, finished up 14-19-4.
The two teams finished with the same record – 43-31-8. But which one was better, Washington – the team that swept the series…or
What happened to
It was the failure of Paddock (and Murray for that matter) to exert any type of control over a rapidly spreading locker room cancer whose name rhymes with 'Gray Memory'. You've also got to look at guys like Alfie and Redden - howwere they trying to keep the team focused and together? Sounds like blame can be shared all around.
ReplyDeleteAll I know is, that if Olie or Johnny began with the Emery-esque shenanigans, I think McPhee would have personally and literally kicked ass.