By Olivia Hooper
The Bristol Honda Pitbulls took the long trip to Hull, only to suffer what was a 4-0 loss to the Seahawks, and gave Dmitri Zimozdra his first shut-out against the Pitbulls.
Heading into this game, Pitbulls were without defenseman Tanner Butler, due to serving a two-game suspension and Tyler De La Bertouche was also seen to be out of the lineup after a last minute decision. This saw Dominic Smith from the Kingston Jets to step in.
First period saw both teams fighting for chances in an end-to-end battle for the first couple of minutes, until a penalty was called to the Pitbulls advantage and at 4.36 Jamie Chilcott was the first to be sent to the penalty box for delay of game. This gave Pitbulls their first powerplay opportunity to open the scoring first and secure the lead over the home team. Despite Pitbulls having this chance, Chilcott was released from the box and they were unable to sneak the puck past Dmitri Zimozdra, keeping both teams equal. Reece Cochrane finds himself caught for tripping at 7.06 and is sent to the box, which gave Seahawks their chance to score on the powerplay. It wasn’t until 9.09 when Seahawks opened the scoring and it was Bobby Chamberlain that saw the chance to hit one past Tommy Nappier and gave Seahawks the lead. Jordan Fisher and Elliot Lewis were sent to the box at 12.36 for roughing, both teams continued to play five-on-five for this penalty and neither side could get a shot to the back of the net. Both teams returned to full strength after these penalties but Seahawks saw themselves giving Pitbulls another powerplay at 19.19, after a call was made for holding on Chamberlain. The first twenty minutes were up and the Seahawks were in the lead leaving Pitbulls yet to score.
Period two was underway and Pitbulls started on the powerplay. It wasn’t long before Chamberlain made his way back on the ice leaving Pitbulls with another unsuccessful powerplay. The next ten minutes saw both sides equally matched with shots being fired on both netminders and many chances for both teams to score until Cochrane put an end to it and was put in the box for hooking at 29.25, leaving Pitbulls to kill another Seahawks powerplay. With some good defending and brilliant saves from Pitbulls netminder Nappier, Seahawks powerplay was unsuccessful and the game was kept at a one goal lead. This left Pitbulls with a chance to keep possession of the puck and fire it to the back of the net to equalise with Seahawks. Pitbulls hopes of these opportunities were put to a stop when a penalty for boarding was called on Lewis and the team were back on the penalty kill. Hewitt sees an opening and hits the puck across the line however officials need to assess the situation before allowing the goal. Unfortunately for Pitbulls, the goal was allowed and the Seahawks doubled their lead. With one minute left on the clock for period two, Lee Bonner is caught for kneeing and was put in for 2 minutes, allowing Pitbulls to go into another period on the powerplay. The second period was over and Pitbulls left themselves with a lot of pieces to pick up to have any chance of securing points in this match.
Heading into the third period, Pitbulls were on the powerplay with 1.57 left to score before Seahawks were back to full strength. The door opens and Bonner returns to the ice, ending the powerplay for Pitbulls. Nick Pryce finds himself with a boarding penalty timed at 44.16 which put Pitbulls back on the penalty kill. Owen Sobchak picks the puck up and flips it over the shoulder of Nappier and finds himself scoring the third goal for Seahawks at 45.05. Just a minute later, Pitbulls Rhys Smetham is sent to the penalty box to sit a 5 minute penalty for boarding. Seahawks take full advantage of this penalty with Sobchak taking the puck behind the net, making a quick pass to Chamberlain who takes a slapshot and sends the puck to the back of the net. Smetham is released from the box and Pitbulls are back to full strength with only ten minutes remaining of the game to score a goal and stop Zimozdra from getting a shut-out. Another chance presents itself to Pitbulls when a penalty timed at 55.27 is called on Calum McGill for hooking. Despite Pitbulls best efforts, Zimozdra pulls out some impeccable saves and denies any chance of Pitbulls pushing the puck across the line before the penalty is up. The time is up and the clock comes to a stop, closing the end of the third period. Pitbulls were unable to get a shot past Zimozdra which rewarded him with a shut-out and Seahawks took the 2 points that were on offer. Tommy Nappier took man of the match for Pitbulls after saving a total of 44 shots on goal out of 48. The final score was 4-0 to the Seahawks.
