Puckers start Finals tournament with a win against Wasquehal

21 May 2016

The three-day French Finals tournament in Meudon started well for the Puckers in the late 21:30 start game against semi-finalist winner Wasquehal. In a very tight game, the Puckers managed to squeak out a 6-4 win.



And the first period was anything but easy for the Puckers. First, there was some rust to shake off after the hockey season ended three weeks ago in Luxembourg. Then the officiating in the tournament was announced to be much tougher than during the regular season in the Division Est. And Wasquehal came out buzzing. Just two and a half minutes into the game, Wasquehal benefited from a scramble in front of the net to put in the rebound between Matthias Rainer's pads for the 1-0 lead. Then with captain Yves Barthels in the box for holding, Wasquehal tallied another goal just over a minute later. But true to the Pucker spirit, the squad fought their way back into the game and David Donzel banged home a rebound after Charles Vallee and Mladen Lutov made the play on the Wasquehal goal at the 8:09 mark.

But Wasquehal kept winning the battles for the puck and it paid off 3 minutes later when they regained their two-goal lead which would hold up until the end of the period.



With some line changes and a lot of focus, the Puckers came out of the lockers to turn this game around. They started winning the battles and get better puck possession. And on the powerplay, a little bit of puck luck got added to the mix when David Jozek score on a fluke shot from the point to get the Puckers within a goal. And just over a minute later, Nick Aubin scored the equalizer after Yves Barthels won the battle at the boards and Mike Mekhaeel fed the puck to Aubin who put the backhander past the goaltender.

In a tight game like that, you need to want it more than the other team and you need luck. Just after killing off yet another penalty, David Jozek just tried to clear the puck all the way from the defensive zone and it somehow found its way through the goalie's pad and gave the Puckers their first lead of the game just before the end of the period. Matthias Rainer made some incredible saves to keep his team in the game and the Puckers headed to the intermission with a lot of confidence.



And they came out with confidence as on the second shift, "Maurice" Nick Aubin took the feed from Mekhaeel again to give the Puckers a two-goal lead right off the bat. Wasquehal wasn't done yet though and they made one final push when scoring the 5-4 a minute later on a bad give-away in the Puckers end. They kept on coming, but Rainer shut the door and the Puckers cruised the lead to the end as the clock wound down. Nick Aubin completed the hattrick just before the end when putting in his second rebound and then took a cheap shot and dislocated his shoulder. The Puckers would hold on and defeat Wasquehal in a very tight and tough game.



Men of the match were David Jozek with his two timely fluke goals and Nick Aubin with his hattrick.



On Saturday at 21:30, the Cinderella story continues as the Puckers face the other semi-finalist winner Francais Volants. The winner of the game will play Sunday for the 2016 French Trophee Loisir title after the Francais Volants beat Wasquehal in the morning game on Saturday in another very tight game that ended 4-3.