THE

UPPER VALLEY HOCKEY LEAGUE

Lumberjacks
Gamblers
1st
2
0
2rd
0
2
3rd
0
3
FINAL
2
5
Shots
37
37
November 29th, 2022 - 8:20PM
Union Arena - Woodstock, VT
Pre-Game
Recap
Box Score
Discussion
Game ID: 1419

Gamblers Bounce back with 5-2 Win over Jacks after rough start.

Two UVHL powerhouses faced off tonight with the Lumberjacks hosting the Gamblers.  Both teams were in a four-way tie for first at 3-2-0 showing the parity in the UVHL this year....well, except for the lowly Whalers who still remain winless after getting blown out by the Blues.

A slow start by the G-Men almost doomed them, going down 0-2 in the first, but they were able to turn turn things up in the second and started cooking with gas.  Despite the 5-2 score, this was an extremely close game with shots being 38-37 for the Gamblers.  Both teams were flying and clearly having fun.  There was some good-hearted chirping and both geams battled hard.

Both teams were missing their starting goaltenders, so it boiled down to two ex-Hanover Mauraders....Tucker "Bigy Sexy" Garritty-Hanchett-Hyphen-Hyphen-Long-Name and Harris "Little Sexy" LaRock.  LaRock, in his second UVHL start was outstanding, backstopping the Gamblers to a 35 save win.  

The Gamblers were anchored by the return of Zach "The Tinder Tickler" Aher who took a night off from swiping.  All the young women in the upper valley sighed a collective "Swiper no Swiping"(that's funny because it's also a Dora the Explorer reference).  Swiper didn't put up any points but played some solid defense.

After a week one 5-4 loss to the Gamblers, the Lumberjacks were looking for redemption.  They came out flying and carried play in the first period but couldn't get one past LaRock.  It took almost 11 minutes before Jay "Zamboni" Zanleoni took a Patrick McDonough pass just above the faceoff dot to LaRock's right and one-timed an absolute lazer beam that may have actually gone straight through LaRock who seemed to be clutching his chest after the shot.  Zanleoni put all 260lbs behind that shot.  1-0 Lumberjacks

McDonough notched the Lumberjack's second goal with 1:44 to play in the first off of a Marc "The Narc" Gattie pointshot that was stopped in the high slot.  McDonough went happy gilmour and stepped into the loose puck with a quick golf swing, beating LaRock low blocker side.  When asked about the goal after the game, McDonough said "I love Happy Gilmour, my favorite scene is when Happy punches Bob Barker....'the price is wrong BITCH!!'".  

The last 2 minutes of the seconds wasn't notable.  The Gamblers looked defeated and headed to the locker room hanging their heads.

END OF THE FIRST: Lumberjacks 2, Gamblers 0.  SAVES: Big Sexy 13 - Little Sexy 14

We're not sure what happened between periods, but rumors are that the Gamblers captain Will Meyer went full Herb Brooks on his team, threw a trash-barrel and stormed off the bench.  Other rumors were that Matty "The Milkman" Marrazzo offered everyone tractor rides at Townline Equipment and / or Aher promised to show everyone his DMs from his Tinder account if they won.  All this reporter knows is that the Gamblers woke up and turned the tables.

Sean "Copland" Collins was the catalyst from the back end providing a pair of goals and an assist.  Alex "Downtown" Dodds was also excellent with a pair of goals and Topo "Thing 1" LaCroix was able to move past the fact that his brother, Thing 2, wasn't there and had a goal and an apple.  

Collins got things started on the powerplay from LaCroix and Ray "PayDay" Nolan.  A Nolan shot went to the far corner and Collins fed LaCroix behind the net, pulling Tucker "Big Sexy" Garrity-Hanchett to the far side of the net, before quickly firing the puck back to Collins on the goal line for a quick shot off of Big Sexy and in at 13:01.  Just over 2 minutes later it was Collins who took a bad clear from a Lumberjack's defender and fired a quick pass to Dodds all alone in front for the redirect.

The last 10 minutes of the second was fantastic and quick

END OF THE SECOND: Lumberjacks 2, Gamblers 2.  SAVES: Big Sexy 23 - Little Sexy 26

The third period continued with the chess match and it wasn't until Jay Zanleoni broke in on a 2 on 1 that things opened up.  Marrazzo was hunting Zanleoni from behidn and dove at the near faceoff dot, taking out Big Z and sliding into the net.  LaRock was on top of his game, hurdling the pair of big boys that were barreling down on him.  Marrazzo went to the sin bin in shame.  With the Lumberjacks on the Power Play, things were about to get interesting as the Gamblers were able to get the puck out of their zone and it was picked up by Alex Boccolucci in the neutral zone.  Bocco backed up with the puck trying to find an open passing lane with Thing 1 forechecking.  Bocco curled and tried dishing the puck off to his defensive partner, only for Thing 1 to read it and intercept the pass all alone in the slot.  Big Sexy, who seemed to be in a trance, woke up and attacked Thing 1, only for Thing 1 to pull the puck to his backhand and deposit the puck into the empty net.  Oh boy.  That shorthanded goal gotta hurt.

The Lumberjacks followed up with a penalty of their own on the next shift, with Marc "The Narc" Gattie getting handcuffed with a bad pass to the point by Nicky "Hall of Shame" Hall that was picked off again by LaCroix.  LaCroix would have had a 2 on 1 with Dodds, but Gattie decided to elimate him with a very gentlemanly trip.  Gattie....2 minutes, but not your fault.

The Gamblers worked the puck 4 on 4 until the Marrazzo penalty was over, then Collins collected a pass from Zaha and fired a one-timer passed a screened TGH for the insurance goal.  

With the Lumberjacks goaltender pulled, Alex Dodds fought off a pair of Lumberjacks players before depositing the puck into the empty net.  Immediately after the goal Dodds was heard saying...."why didn't anyone tell me they pulled their goalie?!?"  

END OF REGULATION: Lumberjacks 2, Gamblers 5 - SAVES: Big Sexy 33, Little Sexy 35.

Great game, lots of class being shown on both sides of the puck.  LaRock & Big Sexy made a ton of solid saves, the puck just seemed to bounce a little better for the Gamblers.  Round 3 should be fun to watch.

LEAGUE PICK 'EM
 0%
Lumberjacks
0% 
Gamblers
PICKS
THREE STARS

Harris LaRock

GA: 2
SAVES: 35
SAVE%: 0.946

Sean Collins

GOALS: 2
POINTS: 3

Topo LaCroix

GOALS: 1
POINTS: 2

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