10/17/2020
Fries Tallman Lumberjacks(0-1-1) at Butterchurners(1-1-0)
TV: SNET-360(HD); TSN 2; 5(HD); CBC-HNIC(HD)
Season Series: The first meeting of the 2020 season versus the Butterchurner and Lumberjacks, the Churners hold the historical edge posting a 5-1-0 all-time record going back to 2016.
Overview: The Churners had their hands full Wednesday versus the Canadians, if not for a stellar performance by Hayden Ripplinger the game would have likely been quite lopsided. After going down 2-0 in the first Ryan Knipple would score his first since September 2016 3:50 into the second to jolt the team back to life. Unfortunately the surge of effort was handily answered by Brett Markewich who was lights out and shutdown the big boys. Jake McCann would get on the board late and push the team to the edge. A mad scramble in the crease with time about to expire resulted in a buzz-beater opportunity for McCann to tie the game. A brilliant move to his back-hand and an open cage only to be robbed by a candidate for save of the year by Markewich and the Canadians hang on to win 3-2 at the Co-operators Centre.
“We came out sluggish and they got on us early and then we took a little too long to get our footing back”, said captain Sean Nijman. “We were trying to force the difficult plays in the 1st and severely lacked scoring opportunities. Credit to them, they capitalized on their chances and put us on our heels, I think the importance of a hot start and constant pressure and shots on net cannot be over stated and will be a focus for us Saturday night”.
The Butterchurners despite the loss have some positives to build on, their defensive end has only allowed 4 goals in the opening two, which puts them well ahead of the Canadians(8), Puckers(9) and Lumberjacks(14). If they can find a way to open up the scoring flood gates tonight, they could very well hold 1st place in the division and leap frog the Canadians this evening with a little help.
Roster Report: The Butterchurners will be boosted by the return of Dan Wolosin but for the third consecutive game will not dress a full roster, short a man as Nick Boucher is a healthy scratch this evening.
Puck Drop: The Butterchurners take on the Fries Tallman Lumberjacks this evening, the 2nd of our double header feature. Puck Drop is scheduled for 10:45 PM at the Co-operators Centre in beautiful downtown Regina Saskatchewan.
