It took the two teams most of the first two period to settle down and play hockey.  The MSPer’s scored twice in the ragged first period and took a 2-1 lead over Velocity into the second.  No goals were scored in the second period, but the key play came with three minutes left in the second period.  The MSPer’s drew two minor penalties.  The first was a hooking penalty.  Twelve seconds later, the MSPer’s drew the second minor for roughing.

Faced with a 5-on-3 for nearly two minutes, the MSPer’s found themselves being pounded by the big Velocity defense men with shots from the point.  The hung on to kill the penalty.  But with five seconds left in the second period, MSP drew an interference penalty with five seconds.  They would start the third period facing the Velocity power play.

Everybody knew that the Velocity would be pounding the goal with their defense to tie the game.  When Kevin Driscoll, the MSPers’ goalie, returned to the ice to start the period it was game on.  Driscoll took a beating, but MSP killed the power play.

Two seconds after the power play ended, MSP gave up the tying goal on a shot that bounced off Driscoll’s back.

Stiill killing the power play was a moral victory for the MSP team.  They went to work scoring three goals in the next 6 minutes of the third period to take control of the game with a 5-2 lead.  The game ended 6-3.

The first period on one level looked like a fast paced game.  The effort, speed, and puck movement all seemed to be operating at high gear.  But the two teams were really cycling.  There was no creativity that a fan normally sees at an elite game.

Halfway through the first period, one coach called a time out to try and settle his team.  The teams were trying to carry the puck into their opponent’s zone only to lose the puck and have the defense reverse the flow of the game.

Somebody had to score.  It was that kind of a game.  MSP got the first goal at the 10 minute mark.  It was a surprise in the sense that the fans had been lulled to a catatonic state and the score was unexpected.  Seamus Donohue/St. Thomas Academy took a simple pass at the top of the right face off circle and fired a quick shot that beat the Velocity goalie.  Austen Long/Spring Lake Park and Mitch Reinke/Stillwater got the assists.

Another simple pass twenty seconds later resulted in a Velocity score.  It came from the lower right face off to Adam Anderson/Centennial at the MSP blue line.  Anderson powered the puck into the MSP net.  Jack Sorenson/Wayzata and Mark Lyman/Blake got the assists.  The game was tied 1-1.

After scoring the tying goal, the Velocity team offense started to play hockey.  Their offense started to move the puck with purpose; the MSPers still struggled on offense.  For 5 minutes, the Velocity built pressure on the MSP defense.  Then two minor penalties one on each team 15 seconds apart resulted in a 4-on-4 game for two minutes.

The 4-on-4 got the MSP offense going for the remainder of the first and it resulted in Seamus Donohue’s second goal with 4 minutes left in the period.  Donohue scored from the right slot area off a pass.  Velocity’s goalie Sam Goetsch/Alexandria, MN was partially screened on Donohue’s shot.  Brandon Notermann/Blaine got the assist.

The choppy play continued for the rest of the period.  The first period ended with MSP up 2-1.  A MSP penalty at the bell put Velocity on the power play for the first two minutes of the second period.

Velocity’s opening power play in the second period was none existent.  After an initial flurry, the team developed no pressure over the two minutes and managed only one shot just as the power play ended.

The game started to get physical after the initial power play, but that led nowhere and for the next 8 minutes the ragged play continued.  Halfway through the second period, it suddenly became a hockey game.  Both teams started skating and doing something with the puck.  The game developed a nice flow until the MSP drew their first penalty at the 3 minute mark.  It was followed quickly by a second penalty to put MSP on a 5-on-3 penalty kill for nearly 2 minutes.

The power play was in front of the Velocity bench for most of the penalty.   The Velocity team just beat the tiring MSP penalty kill tied up low and allowed the Velocity to move at will along the blue and attack the right side of the MSP net low into the face off circle.  The Velocity bench door was swinging open fast and often as Velocity defense men shuffled on the ice for their turn to beat the goalie.  It made an impression on most fans at the game.

But Velocity could not put the puck in the net, and the penalty was killed.  When the MSPers drew that second period ending penalty, things looked bleak for the opening minutes of the third for MSP.  The score was still 2-1; but the stage was set for Velocity to tie the game in the opening minutes of the third period.

Driscoll played tough on the penalty kill and stopped the Velocity blue line attack for the two minutes.  Just as the MSP penalty ended, Velocity defense man Alex Stevens/Wayzata carried the puck into the left face off.  Instead of shooting, Stevens skipped a hard pass to the weak side trying to hit a breaking forward for a one-timer.  The forward ended up popping the puck to the left end boards to Spencer Naas/Benilde-St. Margaret’s.  Naas’s took a quick shot towards the net from the end boards behind the net and hit goalie Driscoll in the back for the score.  Chandler Lindstrand/Wayzata and Stevens got the assists on Naas’ goal.

After that tying score (2-2), the MSP team went to work fueled by a John Peterson breakaway goal; the play of Joey Anderson, a Hill-Murray ninth grader; two setups by Jake Wahlin/White Bear Lake, and Seamus Donohue.

John Peterson/Holy Catholic Family started the fire, scoring an unassisted shorthanded goal four minutes into the period off a breakway.  Peterson caught the Velocity defense trying to hold the puck along the boards and banged it through the defender to start the breakaway.

Leading 3-2, MSP’s Joey Anderson went to work four minutes later.  He scored a power play goal and thirty seconds later scored again.  Zack Hale and Wahlin got the assists on Anderson’s first score; Wahlin and Donohue got assists on Anderson’s second score.  MSP’s Tyler Cline scored a power play goal with 5 minutes left in the period to MSP ahead 6-2.  Donohue and Mitch Reinke got the assists.

A delay of game penalty led to Velocity’s Johnny Austin scoring a goal late in the third period to end the scoring 6-3.

Velocity’s Spencer Naas and MSP’s Joey Lau/Blaine showed they can really skate last night.  MSP’s Seamus Donohue’s 4 points, Jake Wahlin’s 2 points, and Joey Anderson’s 2 goals moved all three into the top seven scores in the league.

MSP defender, Derek Olmschenk, was a huge presence on the MSP defense; Johnny Austin and Jason Krych played well at defense for Velocity.  MSP goaltender, Zach Driscoll picked up his second win of the Elite season and played well especially at the start of the third period.

Both Team Northwest and Team Northeast will play the Chicago Fury and Team Wisconsin next weekend at the Ice Hawks Arena in Steven Point, WI to complete Week 2 play for both teams.