12: Go Kia vs Eyes
Go Kia was without their captain and many expected a loss. Kudos to them as they played hard and were the better team in the second half.
The difference maker in this game was Sim Sandhu. If Eyes had a chance, Sim Sandhu had something to do with it. Major hint to other teams that play Eyes, if you can contain this guy, you got a chance. Tough ask.
His first goal was just after their PP concluded, he got the ball close to the net to the right of the goalie. Faked the shot, someone bit, goalie came out and he deked around him and scored.
His second goal was also nice. Jso shot the ball, the rebound came to Sim, he showed great composure waiting out Lefty then popped a backhand upstairs.
Eyes took a 3-0 lead after a nice passing play between Buddy, Randy and Sim. Randy took a cross-ice pass and went shelf into an open cage.
This is when Go Kia woke up. Their first goal came off an innocent looking play. Deepu took a slapshot that went well wide and Harminder beat the defender covering him to the rebound and hit it one time far right side. Nice goal.
Eyes scored a back-breaker to make it 4-1 in the 2nd half. Vin Panesar took a feed from Sim near the blue line. He wound up and shot. It was floating well-wide across the goal mouth but it hit someone in the back, spinal and ricocheted in. Nothing Lefty could do there. He played good all things considered.
Go Kia mounted some pressure which led to a scoring chance for Anoop Grewal. He made no mistake after pouncing on the ball near the slot, turned and hit it first time going five hole on Balraj Khosah.
Manny Grewal scored an empty netter but woo’d like it was the overtime GWG. Come on Maaan. A win is a win. 5-2 Eyes.
1: Vacuums vs Dhillon Insurance
The pace of this game was much quicker than the previous game. There wasn’t much for shots and most of the play was in the neutral zone. Our tv ratings took a hit for sure.
Luckily there were turnovers. DI got the party started after Vacuums failed to clear, the ball trickled to Prabh Thind at the centre of the blue line. He slapped one in. 1-0. The second goal came just a minute later. Navi took a shot, again Vacuums didn’t clear he got it back and went forehand backhand to beat the goalie. 2-0 at half.
A few seconds into the 2nd, Karan Dhaliwal got Vacs on the board on the PP. He took a wrister that found the net through some traffic.
The game got very interesting after rookie Navu Sandhu got possession of the ball, absolutely shrugged a guy then turned and shot. 2-2. First game first goal.
Amiraj broke the deadlock. He took a shot, it got blocked, but the rebound fell to Navi who found Amiraj again. He made no mistake into the open cage.
Navi Brar put the game out of reach. He undressed a defender then found Sunny Brar for a tap in. Monster game by Navi which didn’t end there. He scored to make it 5-2.
Gurp made it 5-3 after he picked up a lively rebound off the back boards and sniped it.
6-3 after rookie Milan Sahni scored into the empty cage. Nice gesture by captain Sunny Brar who could have easily put it away himself but found the youngster for his first PBHL goal. They’ll only get harder from here. 6-3 DI.
2: All India vs Art Custom Homes
This game was fairly even. Both teams had 15 shots a piece. All India was in the box much more but were the better team at even-strength.
Karnjit Mann played well for ACH. In the early going, Rob Gakhal fed Jessal Parmar for a tap-in but the wily vet showed perhaps too much composure. By the time he dusted it off and shot, Karnjit had slide over to make a big save. The tender then robbed Rob on a similar play.
He was finally solved by Rob while All India was short-handed. Rob roasted a guy heading towards the net and made no mistake after finding himself 1v1 with the goalie.
Jessal got his revenge and the gwg about four minutes after to make it 2-0. Yes, Rob assisted it.
Arjun Ghuman cut the deficit to one after taking a pass from Sukhman Thind and ripping it past Bobby Rai.
Sunny Basi got the insurance goal with 2 minutes left. All India win 3-1.
3: Gallo vs Fancy
Fancy was short benched and missing some key guys. It showed right off the bat. Gallo dominated the play to the point where you could have sworn the rink was tilted in their favour. Joe Sandhu made some good saves early on but not much could be done when his team took a penalty. After moving the ball around nicely, Sarman Malhi, pp quarterback found Jas Sadhra on the left side-board. He made a one-time cross ice-pass to captain Deep Sangha, who ripped it post and in to take the lead.
Sunny Nerval made it 2-0 four minutes after. He took a very wide route towards the net, he then cut in at the last moment and placed it in the perfect spot, top right into the net from a very tough angle.
Gallo continued their assault and found themselves on another powerplay. Deep Sangha scored again, this time he received the ball near the blue line and clapped one through Joe.
They didn’t stop there. Sunny Khaira showed great hustle running down a loose ball before the Fancy or it would have been icing, he curled from behind the net towards the red circles before he turned and fired. The goalie got most of it but not enough as it trickled through past the line. Sunny was overheard telling his line-mates to take notes on how to snipe. Aim center chest.
It became 5-0 after Jas sprung Deep and Nonie for a 2v1. Deep waited, waited then elected to shoot, he aimed top right, it went over the net bounced off the boards to Nonie. Nonie shoveled it in past the goalie who was out of position after the bounce.
During run-time, Arjun Dhaliwal, took a pass from Kanny Sandhu to break Sim Deo’s shutout with 3 minutes left.
The game got a bit more interesting after Kanwar Sandhu trickled one towards net, it hit Sim’s glove and Kanwar cleaned up the rebound. 5-2 and they were putting on more pressure till the final whistle. Except for the second goal, Sim Deo played exceptional and if he keeps it up, Gallo could surge. Final score 5-2 Gallo.
4: Pizza 38 vs Henry Singer
There is not much to write on this one. Pizza 38 creamed Henry Singer and it was a very lop-sided affair. The difference between the two teams was Pizza 38’s speed. Henry Singer could not muster much offence and at the other end, Shaun Atwal could not be stopped. He scored 3 goals and assisted another. HON candidate for sure. The usual suspects, Akash Mehta, Jesse Virdee and Mani Sira all scored as well.
What was most surprising was that Henry Singer had a fairly full bench and their starting goalie was in net. We expect them to be better next game.
Pizza 38 looks well-balanced and could go on a run this year. 6-0 Pija 38.
See you next week.
PBHL Edmonton 