Weekend Wrap-up January 14

Game Summary

This past weekend we saw another installment of the "battle of the birds" as Innisfail hosted Stony Plain. The rink was packed as fans crammed into the stands to see both birds battle it out. Innisfail was looking to shake off the rust, with this being their first game back following the Christmas break. While Stony Plain was looking to build off of a solid effort the weekend prior against Cremona. Both teams were looking to gain some ground in the battle for the first spot in the league. With that said lets dive in:

The opening frame saw each team trade chances back and forth during the first few minutes, with each looking to gain momentum. It wasn't until 14:53 when the deadlock was broken, as Innisfail opened up the scoring. Justin Faryna would score his first of two in the game on a feed from Pierre-Luc Mercier. Shortly after Mercier would add another for Innisfail shorthanded giving the home team a 2-0 advantage early. Matthew Houston would add another on his return to the Eagles lineup, giving Innisfail a 3-0 lead halfway through the period. Innisfail would control most of the momentum and play in the first outshooting Stony Plain 18-8 in the period.

Period two we saw the game tighten up with some spectacular hits, saves, and some unlucky goal posts. Ty Rimmer and Matt Climie would steal the spotlight in this period making some highlight real saves to keep the score and lead where it was. And if not for a few posts Stony Plain could have made this game a lot closer heading into the third. You cant forget to mention the physicality that started to pick up from both sides in this period much to the delight of the fans, some old school chinook hockey. This physicality would certainly carry over into the third. No goals were scored in the second period, with the shots becoming more even, however still favoring the hosts 14-10 in the period. 

Period three we saw a five goal outbreak from Innisfail. The first of them would come at 14:52 from Kevin McMillan, assisted by Mitch Lipon and Brandon Arnold. For Mitch Lipon it was his first CHL point, he would also score his first CHL goal in the period. Innisfail would not look back following this point and would add four more goals and hold on all the way to the end. Kevin McMIllan, Mitch Lipon, Justin Faryna, and Brandon Arnold (2) would each score for Innisfail. The game could have been a lot farther out of reach if it was not for the effort of goaltender Ty Rimmer, especially early on in the game. He would turn away 40-45 shots faced, in what was a solid performance. Matt Climie would take the shutout and the win stopping all 24 shots he faced. Final Shots 45-24 in favor of Innisfail. 

Next up for Stony Plain they will have a week off before returning home to face the Cremona Coyotes on January 28th. Puck drop is 7:45pm at the Glen Hall Centennial Arena. For Innisfail they will host Cremona this upcoming weekend in our CHL matchup, January 21st, puck drop is at 8:00pm at the Innisfail Twin Arena. 

Boxscore: /leagues/hockey_boxscores.cfm?clientID=3293&leagueID=8735&gameID=2139032