PowerPlay 杂志

A shortened wrap-up week this week due to the halfway point coming after Monday but an exciting week none the less.  The American i1 league continues its love of OT games wracking up another 4 to stay on top of the 'Most ties in regulation' standings.

The gap between ninth and second is back to only 3 games after the 2nd placed Miami Rage lost both games since the halfway point.  The first of these was the highlight matchup of the week, against the 3rd placed STL Saints.  The fans agreed with my prediction of a highlight match and packed the Miami Arena resulting in a 1600 sell-out and they were not disappointed. 

The first period was a tightly fought affair with neither team gaining an advantage, though the STL Saints did squander a couple of good powerplay chances.  The Miami Rage completely dominated the second period, outshooting the STL Saints 11:2, however they were only able to go ahead by a single goal.  Early in the third, the Miami Rage scored again and looked to have the game under control.  However, a shorthanded goal by the STL Saints completely reversed the momentum and the STL Saints scored twice more in the final 4 minutes to secure a thrilling 3:2 win.

Interesting to note in this game however, was that the Miami Rage seemed to completely outplay the STL Saints based on their increased game importance even though by all accounts the STL Saints played the correct counter-tactics.  This should give pause to those teams attempting to sneak through playing solely on low importance. 

This coming week’s highlight matchup sees the 9th placed N.©.New York Hellraisers take on the eighth placed Capitol Hill on Monday. A win for N.©.New York Hellraisers would see them move back into the top 8 for the first time since the first few rounds of the season.  I am tipping the N.©.New York Hellraisers to be too good however, if Capitol Hill can correctly pick the right counter-tactic (lets see if they do) then they will certainly make a game of it with their regular higher intensity.

Good luck to all, see you after the real hockey begins.