Goins ‘N’ Roses scored their first hit on the charts, as ‘Sean Bon Joshi’ met the reborn to be wild Jon Bon Salty in Week Four. Salt picked up where he left off in Week Three, putting Red out front 1-0 with his fifth of the season. Patrick Walker popped back with a highlight reel coast to coast cash-in, but Salt responded…twice…to build the lead to 3-1. A late Carl Vankoughnett response kept the tension thick to the end, but Red would hold on to capture their first win of the season, 3-2 over Pink. Salt’s surge has yielded seven goals in two games, and it should be noted that the Week Four hat trick came against Sean Freaking Kelly. We’d have to spend a few hours with the record books to see if there are any other instances of Kelly having a hat hung on him…I doubt there are many/any others. Andrew Lockard picked up his first win of the season with a 21/23 showing, and both Pink and Red now find themselves in the gooey three point center of the standings going into the final games of 2021.
Grey v Purple…nothing to see here. Literally, there is nothing to report. Well, no goals to report…Grey did rack up three penalties….that do anything for you? I hope you had the under on this one, as heavy underdog, Grey, got a boost from London Peters’ replacement, Kevin Wilkinson. Wilkinson was the shot in the arm that Grey needed, but all of the whopping nine shots they mustered hit Sean Kelly’s arm, or leg, or glove, or some other body part. Kelly followed his rough ride against Red with a 9/9 shutout, while Andrew Lockard was much busier, and as good with a 20/20 no-no. Yes…different game, same goalie matchup…fewer goals. The 0-0 tie is certainly a moral victory for Grey, who earn their third point in the standings, in spite of having scraped and struggled to find a mere three goals in four games. For Purple, they are no longer ‘perfect’, but still unbeaten, and still sitting pretty just below Green at the top of table.
Goals and assists were back in fashion in the third game of the night…particularly goals and assists from dudes named Eric. Eric Herrmann broke the scoring seal for Orange in the early going, and had a pair of assists in the third….a period which saw Eric Willard score twice. Kevin Dinino continued his contract year contributions to cap the scoring for Captain Casey’s crew, but…White proved they also like to score. Julie Ott and Shawna Hamon had White out front 2-1 through two, and Mark Ennsmann and Glenn Pinto spoiled the Eric & Eric show with two strikes just forty-six ticks apart to bring the slugfest to a 4-4 stalemate. Nick Meglich (19/23) and Don Tran (21/25) absorbed all of the blows, and left with a ‘T’ and sympathy. The point propels Orange into the middle of the mediocre mélange at 1-2-1, while White are ‘making the paper’ for all the wrong reasons, sitting at 0-3-1 going into a crucial matchup with basement buddies, Cream.
Malki Malki Malki! The family remains a force through four weeks of play with another win on the backs of the namesakes. Chris Malki scored both goals for Green, with lil’ Joe assisting on game-winner in the second. Nick Meglich’s shutout bid was spoiled only by a last minute marker from Brian Sheptycki. It was not just another win for Meglich (13/14), who leads all goalies in all categories this season, but it was a win in the ‘Battle Of The Nicks’. Nick Vacchio’s 15/17 made him the second best Nick in nets in the 2-1 loss, which leaves Brown in cut line town at 1-2-0, and keeps Green the team to beat at 4-0-0. It gets no easier for Brown in Week Five, with a powerful Purple poised to avenge their only non-win, and keep pace with the Malki boys going into the holiday break.
According to the old adage, the cream rises to the top. Captain Gattey is still waiting for his Cream team to embrace that credo, as so far they have only succeeded in sinking. Now, when you come to a gun fight, and find you left the bullets at home (Dan Jurgens, Matt Gottfried, Kaity Gottfried, Derek Baxter, Jerry Gonzales), it’s hard to see your way to survival. Black took full advantage of Cream’s short bench/absence of top-half-of-the-draft talent, building to 3-1 lead in the first on goals by Captain Nick Vacchio, Jeff Anderson, and Josh Tran. Tran’s tally would prove the game-winner, as Ty Pereira accounted for both Cream responses in the 4-2 loss. Rob Gaudio had built the lead to 4-1 prior to Pereira’s second, but it was two little, two late for Cream. Wayne Wong earned his second win of the season with a 9/11 turn, while Steve Deppensmith (12/16) and Cream sagged to 0-2-1. Cream v White is certainly the feature Week Five matchup…it’s beginning to look a lot like ‘do or die’ for both teams.