Squirrels 4, Laughing Skulls 2

Prior to the game on Sunday, it snowed, and the Squirrels only had seven skaters and a sub goalie lined up to play as several games were getting forfeited. Then a separate game in Rockville got forfeited, freeing up a few more Squirrels to play, and suddenly the Squirrels had 10 skaters and a competitive game ahead of them.

Despite being more than doubled up on shots and time of possession, the Squirrels escaped with a 4-2 win against the Laughing Skulls, led by a hat trick from 18-year-old rookie AJ Marks, son of longtime Squirrels defenseman Don Marks.

AJ Marks had the first two goals of the game in the first 3:28. The Skulls answered shortly after, then Geoff Grek scored from the point on a power play. Then a misplay of the puck led to several chances and a goal for the Skulls, and the score was already 3-2 only ten minutes into the game. The Skulls took  three penalties in the period, but the Squirrels struggled to get much going, even on a brief 5-on-3. Though the scoring settled down after the first period, the action didn’t.

The Squirrels took a couple of penalties in a second period that somehow remained scoreless. In the third period, the Squirrels took three more penalties, including a trip by Ben Sumner that was called on Mario Constantinou. Sumner unsuccessfully argued to the refs that it was he who took the penalty. Later, the Squirrels survived almost a minute of a 5-on-3 penalty kill as time ticked away.

In the last minute and thirty seconds, the Skulls pulled their goalie. Despite another flurry of shots, sub goalie Paul Gray kept the puck out of the net. AJ Marks broke loose and scored on the empty net for his first career beer league hat trick.