The Mission 99ers are a veteran team with most of the players from last year’s team returning.  The Mission started the game with a big hit and played physical.  In the opening minutes of the first period, the game flow was ragged.  Both teams struggled; but as the game progressed, the Sabres began to gain more and more possession time in the Mission zone.

After the opening minutes of ragged play, for the next eight minutes of the game, the Sabres established control of the puck in the Mission zone and attacked the Chicago net in waves.  The Mission offense kept their wings high in their defensive zone near each point with the wings trying to time passes from the corner.  Instead, the Sabre fore checks resulted shots on net.  Shattuck used the open space in the upper face off circles effectively.

They bottled the Mission up.

It took a Shattuck defensive miscue at the Mission blue line to let the Mission offense out.  One err resulted a Sean Dhooghe breakaway and score.  Dhooghe is a fast skater and consistently beat the Shattuck defense in the first period.  In open ice, Dhooghe would often bank the puck off the boards and pick up the rebound or simply alter his speed to slip by Sabre defense men.  His goal put the Mission ahead 1-0.

That goal held up as the first period ended with the Mission up 1-0.

The Sabres’ attack in the second period intensified and the Mission goalie Jeremy Foreman “stepped up”.  Shattuck scored in the opening minute of play and Foreman shut the Sabres down after that until late in the second period.

Shattuck’s Logan Hutsko scored the first goal.  He ended up with the puck in the high left face off circle and buried the puck high right.  It was a hard quick shot and it tied the game 1-1.  The Sabres’ defenseman Joshua Maniscalco/Philadelphia, PA got the assist.

After that, Foreman’s play kept the Sabre’s out of the net.  At the halfway minute mark of the second period, the Sabres drew a tripping penalty and the Mission established control in the Sabres’ zone.  They moved the puck and hit Jay Feiwell in the slot.  Feiwell buried the puck to put the Mission up 2-1.

The Mission lead held until Hutsko went to work again.  At the two minute mark, Shattuck attacked the Mission net in a 5 shot sequence that started high in the zone and ended with Hutsko banging the fifth shot into the net from the low left crease to tie the game 2-2.  Scott Reedy/Prior Lake and Tyler Inamoto/Chicago, IL got the assists.  The second period ended in a 2-2 tie.

The third period opened with a Mission score.  Shattuck came out loose, played loose, and the Mission scored a tip-in goal to take a 3-2 lead.  Then it became former YHH top 50 peewee picks, Austin Pratt/Lakeville South and Grant Mishmash/Edina time.

The Mission still held a 3-2 lead with the third period winding down when Pratt buried a shot from the high slot.  His shot froze Foreman and it tied the game 3-3. 

Mishmash scored what appeared to be the game winner a few minutes later beating the Mission defense. Mishmash chased a puck off the right corner, turning it into the slot and hustled the puck down sliding it through Foreman’s 5-hole.

The Mission didn’t give up and came back to tie the score 4-4 only to set up Mishmash’s winning goal.  This time Mishmash beat the goalie on a hard shot from the right slot area to score the game winner 5-4.

After a ragged start, the game flew by.  There were few stoppages, a sign that both teams played well.  The Mission are a solid team.  They have a good goal tender in Foreman and real speed with Dhooghe at a forward.

The Sabres are essentially a team being assembled.  That makes them scary since they are playing well early in the season.

The Sabres went on to beat the Mission 5-3 and 5-1 in the last two games.  Brandon McManus/Newport Beach CA leads the team in scoring.  Hutsko, Mishmash, and Reedy are the early point getters for the Sabres.  Austin Pratt, always large as a peewee, is a 99er but is an eighth grader and still has that outstanding shot.

Next week, the Sabres travel to play in the High Performance Hockey League Showcase.  They will play Compuware, Honeybaked, and Little Ceasars at the HPHL Showcase.