Commentary by Mark "Gunner" Guarnieri

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PENGUINS 4 VS COBRAS 1

The Penguins grabbed a two goal lead before four minutes of play had elapsed. The first goal was a solo effort from sub, Jason Lavigne, which was closely followed by a similar goal from Joe Holder. The Penguins doubled their lead in the second stanza thanks to a pair of goals from Brian Quarters. The first came after Brian collected a puck after a save from goalie Dave Taylor, the second was expertly conceived by Joe Holder, continuing his fine early season play. The Cobras, midway through the third period, got on the board ruining Dave Taylor’s bid for his second shutout. The elusive shot came off the stick of Tim Frederick. The architects on the lone Cobra goal were Rob Newman and Pat Makowski. 

STARS 5 VS HONEY BADGERS 5

The Honey Badgers scored 67 seconds into the contest taking the suspense of when Stars goalie, Mike Higbie, would lose his shutout moot. The goal was the product of a collaboration of Bill Tucker, Steve Gottschalk and Jon Mullins. 26 seconds later the score was even as the Stars Brandon Kane lit the lamp with a shot helped by Paul Muller and Tom Bonk. Dan Smolinske gave the Honey Badgers the lead later in the frame. Before the first intermission the Stars drew even again when Paul Muller took advantage of the skills of Brandon Kane and Don Gardner. The Stars tried their hand at protecting a lead midway through the game as Jon Schwandt found the back of the net after combining with John Roach and James Knight. The experiment lasted 15 seconds as Dan Smolinske scored his second unassisted goal. Late in the period the Honey Badgers took the lead for the third time when Jon Mullins maneuvered the puck to Mike Tesch. The opening faceoff of the final frame saw the Stars control the puck and eventually knot the score for the fourth time as Brandon Kane teamed up with Paul Muller and Don Gardner. Minutes later Mike Tesch scored again this time with help from Bill Tucker to put the Honey Badgers ahead for the fourth time. This time didn’t work out well as before when with just over two minutes left to play James Knight tied the score aided by Jon Schwandt. At this point the rare back to back timeouts occurred without a puck drop. Neither strategy worked as there were no more goals scored. The tie broke the Starsa 5 game winning streak but extended their unbeaten string to six games and kept them atop the standings.

RED WINGS 5 VS ACCIDENTS 1

With almost seven minutes having been played the Red Wings broke the scoreless tie as Tom Darling capitalized on the hard work of Dan Stevens and Kevin Price. This was followed quickly by another Red Wing tally as Dan Stevens combined with sub, Frank Taylor. The second stanza saw Dan Stevens score twice within 16 seconds to bulge the deficit to four goals before two minutes had been played. The first was Dan’s second game winning goal of the season and was unassisted, the second was set up by Kevin Price. Before the buzzer would sound Pete Sapiano lengthened the lead to 5 goals helped by Dan Stevens and Kevin Price. The Red Wings tried to protect the shutout bid of goalie Rick Zwieg. The effort was for naught as the Accidents scored with less than two minutes remaining. Jim Clairmont was the culprit after accepting a pass from Ray Babisch.

VIGNASTY 5 VS GRINDER HOCKEY 5

The game was almost 7 minutes old when Vignasty took the lead as Brett Bowyer spotted an open Dave Kure. This was answered quickly as Mike Robins advanced the puck to Craig DiPaola. Vignasty again went into the lead before the horn would sound as Tom Witter collaborated with Dave Kure and Brett Bowyer. 7 minutes into the second period Grinder Hockey drew even as sub, Dan Smolinske, scored off as feed from Craig DiPaola. In the dying seconds Mike Robins again set up a Grinder Hockey goal this time the trigger man was Jason Lavigne. The lead would be eradicated early in the third when Brett Bowyer cashed in the passes of Tom Witter and Dave Kure. Striking while the iron was hot Vignasty retook the lead on a Shawn Schmidt goal aided by Frank Jaramillo and Nick Rine. Shortly thereafter Jason Lavigne would bring Grinder Hockey back to even and then put them into the lead. Dan Smolinske and Mark Rodgers orchestrated the first and Craig DiPaola the second. With just over a minute left to play Vignasty tied the score for the fifth time in the game as Dave Kure scored set up by Tom Witter and Frank Jaramillo. The tie allowed Grinder Hockey to occupy the second spot in the standings.