Two points from moving into a tie for third place with Enigma, the Squirrels didn’t gain any ground Wednesday as the teams skated away with a 2-2 tie. The Squirrels were lucky to even get that.
Neither team scored in the first period, though Enigma had two power plays. Neither team scored in the first 12 minutes of the second period, either, though Enigma had three power plays. But the biggest call came at 7:23 when Jeff Ford got a 5-minute major and a game misconduct for kneeing, a penalty that wouldn’t expire no matter how many times Enigma scored.
Then Ben Sumner drew a high sticking call, sending Enigma defender Eric Rosengarten out of the game, plus giving the Squirrels two minutes of three-on-three hockey during Ford’s major.
The game opened up. Rob Myers had a breakaway. Stopped. Then Jon Magi had one, and put the Squirrels up 1-0 with five minutes to play. Moments later, Don Marks scored what appeared to be a goal to put the Squirrels up 2-0, but it was called back because of a slight crease violation.
Then Enigma tied the game on the initial power play as the puck came out of Bob Sewell’s glove and fell into the net. Enigma went up 2-1 less than a minute later on a delayed penalty by the Squirrels.
About 45 seconds later, Sumner drew yet another high sticking penalty, sending another Enigma player to the box for the remainder of the game and giving the Squirrels another shot on the power play. This time, Marks made it count, scoring on a slap shot from the right circle with a minute to play.
The Squirrels outshot Enigma, 22-18, including 16-10 in the second period. The Squirrels played without Matt Borlik, Tony Richelsen, and Kit Watson. The next game is Thursday, at 7:30 p.m. against Silver Spring.