Gens improve to 3-0 with win over Colts

Saturday night saw the Generals return to the familiar confines of the Totem Arena for the 2011-2012 home opener.  This year’s edition of the much anticipated game saw an inter-division matchup against the Mountainview Colts, who have shown great improvement over the past few years and this year was no exception. After a heated rivalry last season in the Central Division, the Heritage League realignment has placed the Colts in the North and the Generals in the south. The rivalry, however, seemed very much alive Saturday night.
The Generals came out Saturday night to a spectacular introduction; however, once the puck was dropped it seemed that they forgot there was a hockey game to be played. Only 2:37 into the game Mountainview drew first blood on a powerplay goal from Jason Edwards, who was a thorn in Generals side last year in their heated playoff battle against the Colts. The Mountainview squad extended their lead to 2 at the 13:00 mark of the 1^stand the Generals, just like in Banff a week before, were down a couple early. Finally, with only 4 minutes remaining in the opening frame Generals veteran Riley Boothby potted his 3^rdof the season on a great pass from linemate Kris Keller. This seemed to spark the hometown club and only 65 seconds later rookie defenseman Ty McKernon potted the equalizer. The opening period came to a close with the score knotted at two. The Generals outshot the Colts 20-13 in the period.
It only took the Gens two minutes of the second period to bury the go ahead tally. Newcomer Reid Wilson netted his team leading 4^thof the season on a nifty wrap around play. The resilient Colts answered right back, however, with a goal of their own to tie things up at 3. The teams traded chances throughout the second but the goaltenders stood their ground and after 40 minutes the score was 3-3. The shots were even at 8 a piece in the period.
The game would come down to the third period. The Generals, not wanting to disappoint the hometown crowd, decided to start throwing pucks on net hoping to net the go ahead goal. Just 2 minutes in that’s exactly what happened. Kris Keller through a harmless looking shot on net that hit a Mountainview players stick in front and deflected past the helpless goalie. Then only 3 minutes later Darren Schmautz threw another long slap shot on net that seemed to handcuff the goaltender. Despite catching a piece of the shot the goalie bobbled the puck and it slid over the goal line. The Generals now held a 5-3 lead with 13 minutes to play. The Colts cut the lead to 1 late on a powerplay goal but it wasn’t enough. The Generals walked away with a tight 5-4 victory and improved to 3 and 0 on the season.
The final shots were Cochrane 37, Mountainview 33. The Generals went 2/11 on the PP and 6/8 on the PK.