The Aspray Chester Deeside Dragons continued their strong play this weekend, as they welcomed the Blackburn Hawks (6-10-0) to the Den. Petr Valusiak led the way for the Dragons, with a goal and four assists in a 6-5 win for the Dragons, giving them a 2-0-0 record at home this season, improving their record to 3-5-1, and joining Ross Kennedy at the top of the Dragons scoring leader board, with 16 points on the season (6 goals, 10 assists in 8 games).
It was an eventful first period, with Blackburn opening the scoring early on a goal from Jacob Lutwyche, before Andy McKinney scored on the power play to tie the game, his second goal in two home games this season. Blackburn scored their own power play goal shortly after, again from Lutwyche, but Captain James Parsons tied the game with three minutes left in the first period to make it 2-2.
The second period was almost all Dragons, as they scored four goals (Jared Dickinson, Kennedy, Valusiak and Parsons’ second of the night) before an injury to starting goalie Phil Pearson meant backup Mike Rogers had to take over, unfortunately allowing two goals on his first two shots of the game, giving the Dragons only a one goal lead into the third.
The third period may have been the Dragons best period of the season, as they outshot the Hawks 16-3, and didn’t allow a goal to take the win in regulation. Credit has to go to the Hawks goaltender, Alex Oldale, who made all 16 saves, including a huge save on a penalty shot from Dragons’ leading scorer Ross Kennedy to keep the Hawks in the game until the very end.
Something else of note for the Dragons this game was their discipline. After taking two minor penalties in the first, plus defenceman Chris Jones picking up a match penalty and 25 PIMs, the Dragons didn’t take a single penalty in either the second or the third, which really allowed the team to play their best and most structured hockey.
The Dragons next game will be January 8th at home against the Sheffield Scimitars (0-15-1). The last time these two teams met, the Dragons took the win in overtime 5-4.
