Squirrels 7, Dead Kings 3

Squirrels Get Wakeup Call

The Dead Kings came out of the gate shooting. The Squirrels couldn’t clear the zone, and the first loss of the season seemed to be a reality. But then the Squirrels found the trick to winning, and what started out as lopsided ice turned into a 7-3 victory behind a solid performance by goaltender Drew Thiemann.

The league’s leading scorer, Jeff Huntington, scored on a wraparound at 1:26 into the game to put the Dead Kings up, 1-0. The Squirrels tied it at 9:42 as Brent Machado scored what he referred to as a ‘fluke.’ Michael Bronson then put the Squirrels up 2-1 at 11:23 with a patient shot out front. Charles Wolstein picked up an assist on the play, the stay-at-home defenseman’s first point of the season. Then the Dead Kings scored on what looked to be a shot with a high stick, but the referees allowed it, and the score was 2-2 after a frustrating first period for the Squirrels.

The score remained tied throughout much of the second period before Chris Long saw a loose puck behind the goaltender, dashed over and hammered it home. Late in the period, Ben Sumner scored on what he referred to as a ‘fluke.’ The second period featured nine minor penalties on both teams, three pairs of which were coincidental.

Bronson, Matt Borlik and Long scored in the third period, but the Dead Kings didn’t give up, and got a third while peppering Thiemann with shots near the end of the game. Thiemann made 28 saves as the Squirrels scored seven times on 26 shots.

Bronson, Machado, Long, Sumner, Borlik, Thiemann, Wolstein, Brian Jackson, Dan Carter, Rob Myers and Matt Benson played for the Squirrels.

The next game is Jan. 3, 2008, at 10 p.m. against the Piranhas.