Day Four -- Scrimmage II

It was Scrimmage, Part Deux for the young prospects at Capitals Development Camp this afternoon and a chance for the Banshees (Group B) to exact a measure of revenge against the Aardvarks (Group A).

Well… that was the plan.

And it looked like a great plan early, as the Banshees at least stood their ground in a scoreless first period (we’re back to 20-20-20 minutes). But the score, or lack of it, was a bit deceptive. The period was played almost entirely in the Banshee end of the rink, and goalie Garrett Zemlak was peppered early and often. He was called up on early as the Aardvarks mounted a challenge, crashing the net, where the puck eventually lay near the goal line. Zemlak dove on it barely 80 seconds into the scrimmage to keep the Aardvarks off the board. It was a fine imitation of Dominik Hasek, as Zemlak rolled over on his back and threw his arm out to smother the puck.

Dmitri Orlov would get a chance for the Banshees later in the period as the puck was sent across to him with some open ice in which to shoot. But Orlov couldn’t get good composite on the one timer (once upon a time, that phrase would have been “good wood”), and goalie Dan Dunn turned it aside.

The first period ended scoreless, but the Aardvarks held a 12-4 advantage in shots.

Luck would smile on the Banshees in the second period, despite the lopsided edge in shots for their opponents. Eric Kattelus got the Banshees on the board early to give the blue squad a 1-0 lead. The game was tied not long after, though, as Michael Dubuc did the honors for the Aardvarks. The Banshees regained the lead, though, with a pair of tallies to take a 3-1 lead to the second intermission. One of them was a sweet goal by June draftee Cody Eakin, who took a nice feed from John Carlson and cleanly snapped the puck home.

The best laid plans, as they say, often go astray, and they really jumped the shark in the third period. Andrew Glass, Everett Sheen, Joel Broda, Garrett Mitchell, Mathieu Perreault, Perreault again, and Dubuc put a hurtin’ on Dustin Carlson, who fought the puck but also suffered some indifferent play in front of him as Aardvarks were winning races to the net.

There was quite a scare in the third period as several players got tangled up in front of Aardvarks goalie Braden Hotlby. Anton Gustafsson appeared to bang the crossbar with the side of his head, opening a gash and leaving him on all fours on the ice for several moments as medical personnel trotted onto the ice to provide assistance. The play unfolded right in front of us, and Gustafsson looked very woozy as he was being administered aid. It was a nasty gash that left some blood on the ice that had to be cleaned up as Gustafsson was helped off, a towel applied to the side of his head. He was taken to the locker room and did not return to the bench.

Although it was Banshees carrying the play early, the Aardvarks kept rooting around for pucks until they could open the floodgates on Carlson. Aardvarks 8 – Banshees 3 (Aardvarks lead, 2-0 in scrimmages).

Three Stars:

Michael Dubuc
Braden Holtby
Dmitri Orlov

Here are a few pics of the action…