Dallas Alliance come to Denver for 2 game series

The Game gets physical in front of the net!

Denver, CO - The Dallas Alliance traveled to Denver for a two game series with the Rocky Mountain Roughriders. The Alliance also had the Colorado Thunderbirds and Pikes Peak Miners on their schedule during the road trip. The only odd part of the itinerary was that all the games were scheduled at Big Bear Ice Arena. With the money the arena saves on paint and landscaping, one might think that they could get the clock working. After two weekends in a row, no such luck.

The first period got underway with each team figuring out what each team brings to the table. The Alliance brings a physical and gritty brand of hockey while the Roughriders bring a blend of physicality and finesse.  It took a while for either team to find the net, but at 16:21 of the first period Chad Pietroniro found it in a beautiful fashion on a one timer from just inside the blue line on a pass from Guimond and Miller. This would ultimately prove to be the game winner.

On Thursday night, Coach John Paris, Jr. gave his defense men some new tools for their hockey toolbox. He worked on escape moves and reads to make on attacking forwards. The new tools really paid dividends as the Roughrider breakout worked better than it had all season.

The second period would be huge for the Roughriders as they would break out with a 4-goal flurry. Paige Maul netted back to back goals at 1:52 and 8:37 of the second period respectively with assists going to Fushimi, Guimond and two to Weisbeck. The Dallas Alliance found themselves in penalty trouble for most of the period. Frustration had clearly set in on the Alliance bench and the trouble with the clock only made matters worse. Brandon Fushimi took a holding penalty at 14:25 of the second that proved to be beneficial to the Roughriders as Caleb Pola netted an unassisted short-handed goal, the first short handed goal of the season for the Roughriders, at 15:15 of the second period. A short 7-seconds later, Braiden Miller took the ensuing faceoff straight down the ice, splitting both defenseman burying a backhander in the opposite top corner of the net at 15:21 of the second period for back to back short handed goals to end the scoring for the Roughriders.

The third period did not have any scoring as the Roughriders would cruise to a 5-0 victory, however there were some fireworks at just 19 seconds into the third period when Brennan Miller for Dallas and Vincent Guimond for the Roughriders didn't see eye to eye and had quite the rumble at the offensive blue line. Both players were assessed four minute double-minors for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Jared Young was sharp in net and stopped all 19 shots he faced while Joe Sheppard VI stopped 34 of 39. The two teams matchup again tomorrow morning at 8:30am at Big Bear Ice Arena.

OFFICIAL GAMESHEET