VS. 
Last night the Grandview Steelers rolled into Richmond to battle the Sockeyes in a clash of two teams from the Tom Shaw Conference. The game started slow, but saw a crazy second period which opened the door for the Sockeyes 5-2 victory and their 20th win this season.
The first period started out slow as neither team could muster any solid scoring opportunities. Until Kyzen Loo broke in around Steelers defenceman Nicholas Gushue and had it in all alone and was hauled down resulting in a penalty shot. This would be his 4th opportunity on the penalty shot this season. He took it in fairly slow on the goaltender Norbert Biszczak and made one too many moves and the puck hopped off his stick and went wide. Despite it being a slow period, both teams got a fair amount of shots with the Sockeyes getting 12 and the Steelers getting 10. The hit of the game came with about 4 minutes to go in the 1st when Michael Ball caught Jeffrey Coi with his head down at the red line and stopped him in his tracks.
Needless to say it was a crazy second period at the Minoru Arena. The powerplay which struggled for the Sockeyes early in the year really turned it on in this game when Clayton Wright made a beautiful move at the blueline to pull the puck around Simon Horlick to get in all alone. Wright then roofed a shot over the glove of Norbert Biszczak to make it a 1-0 game. Shortly after, the puck was behind the net at the Sockeyes end, it was sent out front to Marko Gordic and he shot a laser towards Aaron Oakley. But Oakley's glove hand was too quick for Gordic and he had the save of the game right then and there. This was a huge turning point as it prevented a goal and led to another powerplay goal for the Sockeyes, off the stick of Sebastian Pare when Kyzen Loo fed him a nice pass and he got around the defenceman and put it five hole on Biszczak. To wind up the period, the Sockeyes added a third goal. This time by Jake Roder after Clayton Wright's shot was deflected off Thortsteinson and went right to Roder's stick with the wide open net and he made no mistake burying his 15th goal of the season.
Its always important to come out strong from an intermission especially one where you leading, and just 41 seconds in, the Sockeyes did just that. They got their fourth goal of the game when Jeremy Hamaguchi's shot rebounded right to Roder and he backhanded it over Biszczak's left pad and in the net. But tough Tom Shaw Conference teams never show any quit, as a a minute and twenty five seconds later Curtis Rocchetti fired a shot that hit Michael Ball and got past Aaron Oakley to break his shut out bid. The Steelers notched another one just after the eight minute mark when Kentaro Tanaka streaked to the net and Curtis Rocchetti was able to send a beautiful pass tape to tape and Oakley had no chance. This seemed like the time the Sockeyes woke up after giving up two straight goals, and played strong the rest of the period preventing any good scoring chances for the Steelers. Jessie Siemens netted a late goal showing hard work and even while on his knees forced it under Biszczak and ended the game as a 5-2 victory for the Sockeyes.
The Sockeyes next opponent will come Friday, December 10th when they play the Ridge Meadow Flames at Planet Ice. Next home game will be next Thursday when they host the Mission Icebreakers for the first time at Minoru Arena this season. It should be a great game as the last time the two teams played, Mission upset the Sockeyes in a Halloween thriller. Remeber to tune in at www.richmondsockeyes.com and if you have any questions or comments contact us at sockeyes@live.ca
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