Warriors face off against Hawks. Photo by Pyro-Media.
Whitley Warriors celebrated a 4-2 road win against Blackburn Hawks on Sunday evening.
Travelling to Blackburn Ice Arena with just fourteen skaters, the Warriors opted for netminder Dean Bowater between the pipes, their lengthy absentee list including forwards Jordan Barnes, Adam Finlinson, Jamie Ord and suspended Captain Dean Holland to name but a few. Meanwhile, the Hawks had twenty players at their disposal, amongst them Player-Coach Lee Pollitt, experienced forward Aaron Davies and Czech Petr Valusiak.
Taking to the ice for the first period, Whitley got off to the best possible start as they established an early lead through defenceman Steven Chalmers on 2:04 which the defenceman doubled just sixteen seconds later as he manoeuvred the puck around shot stopper Michael Rogers before tapping it into the net to make it 2-0. Unwilling to let the game get away from Blackburn, Davies buried a shot on 2:32 to halve his side’s deficit, making for an action-packed opening. Just over three minutes later, utility player Adam Wood incurred a charging penalty to place Blackburn on the power play and Valusiak took this opportunity to force a pad save from Bowater but Whitley’s effective penalty kill prevented the home team from equalising. Soon after their return to full strength, the Warriors put Rogers to the test again, this time defenceman Dylan Hehir playing the puck to Latvian Rolands Gritāns who saw his shot saved. Subsequently, Blackburn enjoyed some possession in their offensive zone with neat play between Davies and Valusiak putting some pressure on Bowater. As play became end-to-end, the Warriors challenged Rogers further but the Hawk withstood these efforts and his team responded, though forward James Parsons was prevented from successfully getting his shot away by versatile defenceman Wood. In the last two minutes of the period, Chalmers was dealt a five-minute penalty for charging defenceman Logan Jean-Jacques to present the Hawks with a lengthy power play on 18:19. Managing to hold on to their narrow 2-1 lead, the Warriors headed in with the knowledge that they had much work still to do on the penalty kill at the start of the second period if they were to remain ahead in the contest.
Whilst running down the remainder of Chalmers’ penalty in the early stages of the middle stanza, the Warriors forced a holding misdemeanour from Matthew Wainwright on 20:42 to allow themselves a level playing field for two minutes, only for the defenceman to wreak further havoc on his return as he regained possession to find Parsons who slipped the puck past Bowater for 2-2 on 22:56. Buoyed by this, Pollitt looked to set up Davies but Bowater made the save and Whitley soon found themselves on the back foot again when Wood tripped left winger Jacob Lutwyche on 27:58. Toiling, the Warriors killed this penalty to remain on level terms but Blackburn continued to build momentum in Whitley’s defensive zone whilst the Warriors sought opportunities on the breakaway. This style of play soon paid off for the visitors as Latvian defenceman Rihards Grigors countered the Hawks’ attack to reclaim Whitley’s lead, netting through the five-hole on 32:22. Battling back, Blackburn came close to equalising when Davies unleashed a shot only for the puck to land on the line without crossing into Bowater’s net. The Warriors responded by breaking away again, forward Thomas Fraser seeing his initial shot blocked by Rogers, the netminder then quashing the rebound to prevent Whitley from re-establishing their two-goal lead. As the period wound into his final stages, forward Jared Dickinson almost netted for the Hawks but an equaliser continued to elude the side, meaning the Warriors went in at the second break with their 3-2 lead intact.
Heading onto the ice for the final twenty minutes of play, Whitley hoped to add to their tally but the Hawks had the first real chance of the period as Valusiak’s shot went wide. With little separating the sides, play flowed between the zones to see the game continue to be closely contested. Parsons fired high after receiving the puck from Valusiak but Bowater made the save to keep the Warriors ahead and Whitley had another chance when Chalmers tried to bundle the puck past Rogers without success. It was not long after that Grigors swiped possession from Davies to play a pass into the high slot but Rogers remained composed to deal with the threat posed by his opposition. After an effort from Davies went wide, the Warriors broke into Blackburn’s defensive zone but their attack quickly fizzled out with a misplaced shot and the side were subjected to further pressure in the latter stages as the Hawks maintained their offensive work. Defenceman Hehir worked effectively with Alternate Captain Harry Harley to stall Blackburn’s attack whilst Chalmers tried a slap shot at the other end of the ice, only for Rogers to block his attempt. As the game progressed to its final stages, a delay of the game penalty for Hehir handed Blackburn a power play on 58:22 and the Hawks immediately called a timeout, opting to pull their netminder for an additional skater. With Blackburn in the ascendancy, Wainwright skated with the puck around the back of Bowater’s net but stand-in Captain Shaun Kippin resumed his team’s possession to shoot into Blackburn’s empty net, making it 4-2 with twenty six seconds left to seal Whitley’s victory.
Stats
Shots on goal
Hawks: 32
Warriors: 47
Points
Hawks:
James Parsons (1+0), Aaron Davies (1+0), Matthew Wainwright (0+1), Reece Cairney-Witter (0+1), Lee Pollitt (0+1), Petr Valusiak (0+1)
Warriors:
Steven Chalmers (2+1), Richards Grigors (1+2), Shaun Kippin (1+1), Craig Johnson (0+1), Kyle Ross (0+1)
Penalty minutes
Hawks: 2
Warriors: 11