Slayers Shoot the Lights Out in a Topsy-Turvy Affa

Gian Scalet and Rob Tyrrell both scored four goals and two assists as the Sunnydale Slayers notched their first win of the season with a 14-8 triumph over the Keane Fire. The Slayers looked to have things well in hand in the first period, scoring the only six goals of the opening frame and the first goal of the second period. But six straight goals by the Slayers late in the second period narrowed the gap to a single goal.

However, the Slayers started the third period where they left off in the first, scoring 7 of the first 8 goals to seal the deal. But aside from Scalet and Tyrrell’s offensive heroics, it was Slayer goaltender Mike Burfitt who stole the show. Burfitt was spectacular for the first half of the game, stopping all 20 of the Fire’s first period shots. For his efforts, the sophomore goaltender was awarded the game’s first star, with Scalet and Tyrrell garnering the second and third stars respectively.

The first period closed on a strange note, as a scrum in a corner accidentally turned off half of the gym’s lights. As the Neeham Centre’s lighting system takes five minutes to restart, the period was halted 30 seconds prematurely. The Fire’s attack was lead by Jeff Shute, who single-handedly turned a 7-0 blowout into a competitive game with a quick natural hat-trick. Rookie Mark Thompson was also impressive for the Fire, engineering several end-to-end rushes while notching four points in the process.

By far, the bravest player on the floor had to be Fire goaltender Chris Griffin. Griffin, the last player to arrive for the game, was surprised to learn that their starting goaltender Harvey Snelgrove was too ill to suit up, and each of his teammates was looking at him to strap on the pads. Griffin, who had only played one game in goal previously in his eight-season career, got off to a bit of a shaky start in the first period. But he found his groove in the second period, only allowing one goal on 16 shots, and most importantly allowing his team to regroup.

Notes: 19 goals were scored in one end of the gym; only 3 were scored in the other…Rob Tyrrell's 6 points ties him with Tony Joyce for the league’s scoring lead…Gian Scalet scored his 200th career goal to open the game’s scoring; he is the fifth player to achieve this mark...Kevin Haddad has scored 108 points for the Fire against the Slayers in his career, but scored his first 4 points as a Slayer against the Fire on Monday