Hawks move to 2-1

Arrowhawk alternate captain Tom Morgan laughs off a near miss on the Panther empty net late in the third period.

DUBLIN, OH – The Hawks moved their record to 2-1 on the session, defeating the Panthers 4-2 Friday night before a capacity crowd (Alana and two Chiller staffers cleaning the rafters). The win moves the Arrowhawks into a tie for third place in the division, with those darn Eskimos. C'mon Mos, can't you come up with better sweaters than yellow ones? Why not all white? Doesn't it snow a bunch where there are Eskimos? You could have been the classiest bunch on the ice on Friday nights with your all-white duds. Sure, it would be very hard to see each other, but it would work both ways, wouldn't it? Oh well, at least they aren't as ugly as this.

Back to the Panther game.

The Panthers opened scoring by luckily getting one by Jason Jensen midway through the first period. Jensen was caught watching his wife in the stands talking to some young dude while she knitted him a new sweater.

"I was just asking the kid if he would mind trying on the sweater so I could see if it would fit Jason," said Alana, the Hawks #1 fan. "He was about Jason's build. It was a harmless mistake."

Arrowhawk management will be talking with Mrs. Jensen about sitting in the player's wife section in the future so there won't be disruptions in future games.

The Panthers were ahead until Bryce Griffith sprung through the neutral zone with Mark Monahan on a 2-on-1. Griffith laid a saucer pass right on Monahan's stick with two strides to go before reaching the Panther netminder. Monahan deeked the goalie and potted the equalizer.

Jason Torsok scored on a blistering wrister shortly after Bryce's goal, to give the Hawks a 2-1 lead. The Panthers didn't give up though. They peppered Jensen and eventually scored again to tie the game.

This apparently made the Griffith boys angry. They awoke and maintained consistent offensive-zone pressure firing shot after shot. Bryan Griffith passed and moved well in the high slot winning board battles all game. Bryce Griffith scored to make the game 3-2 then scored a minute later to put the game out of reach, 4-2.

"The Panthers are a good team," Said Tom Morgan +2 on the night. "They play their positions well and do a good job of clogging the neutral zone." He added.

Minnesota Nick Lanctot was moved to defense and played a stellar game. He brought speed into and out of each zone and was physical in front of goaltender Jason Jensen. He did wind up taking back-to-back penalties in the second period, :06 seconds apart, but that aside he was a significant contributor.