Glastonbury, CT November 1, 2005. ZRink - Killingworth Guppies Spring 2005 season.

November 1, 2005-11/1/2005- FLUSH!!! That was the sound heard Tuesday night as the Guppies lost a 5-4 lead with under two minutes remaining. The Flushing sound wasn't just the game getting away from the Guppies but it might have been the playoffs as well. Placing the Fish in very unfimiliar water. The Guppies have never missed the playoffs in their 10 years of hockey, but Tuesdays loss has all but knocked the Gupps out of the post season. "Things aren't going our way right now, we're not getting the bounces" stated Guppies Captain Brian Kelly "We can sit here and feel bad about our misfortunes or we can go out there and win our next two games! It's up to us"

Things started off bad for the Guppies Tuesday night as UConn took the early 2-0 lead. The Guppies had the offense early on but couldn't find the back of the net. Rob Murphy (1-3-4) would get the fish on the board scoring on a partial breakaway. However, late in the First Half the Huskies would score to regain their two goal lead. At the Half the Dogs were up 3-1!

In the Second the Guppies came out flying as Brian Kelly (2-2-4) scored less than a minute into the half to cut the lead to one. The Huskies would get a break when a shot deflecked off of Murphy's stick and past Linskey. Down 4-2 midway through the second the Guppies finally went on the attack. Brian Mulcahy (1-0-1) scored on a great individual play to cut the Huskies lead 4-3. Just over a minute later the Jason Zito (1-2-3) scored on the Guppies Power Play to tie the game at Four. Thirty-two seconds after Zito tied the game, Kelly would score to give the Guppies the 5-4 lead. Things seemed to be going the Guppies way as the Fish maintained the pressure in the Huskies zone. However, UConn never stopped their attack and it paid off when, with just, 1:54 remaining in the game they would tie the score at 5. With the score tied at Five the Guppies made a push to regain the lead but the unthinkable occurred when a flip shot beat Linskey and just caught the upper left corner of the Guppies net with :54 seconds remaining. With Linskey pulled for the extra attacker the Huskies would seal the victory with the open net goal. Guppies lose 7-5!

After the game the Guppies tried to remain up beat "There is still a chance for us to make the playoffs and until we are officially out our goal remains the same" stated Guppies defenseman Mike Halle in a post game interview "We have won a lot of titles and you don't do that by just giving up".

The Guppies face off against ESPN next Tuesday night at 10pm. ESPN if also fighting for their playoff lives and like the Gupps had a major set back when the Fire Ants Mercied them 11-1.

The Killingworth Guppies
A division of Killingworth Guppies Sports Net
and K-Town Sports Entertainment- www.killingworth-guppies.com

 

SIDE NOTES:

- Scratches: John Stevenson, John Carroll

 

BOX SCORES:

First Half:

13:03 - UConn - Goal - Rosen (McNamara)

  6:30 - UConn - Goal - Landau (Russo, O'Brien)

  6:14 - Guppies - Goal - Murphy (B. Kelly, Linskey)

    :37 - UConn - Goal - M. Kelly (O'Brien, Jeffers)

Second Half:

19:15 - Guppies - Goal - B. Kelly (Murphy, Zito)

16:55 - UConn - Goal - O'Brien

10:55 - Guppies - Goal - Mulcahy

  9:17 - Guppies - Goal - Zito (Murphy, B. Kelly)

  8:45 - Guppies - Goal - B. Kelly (Murphy, Zito)

  1:58 - UConn - Goal - Russo (Landau)

    :54 - UConn - Goal - M. Kelly (Russo, O'Brien) Game Winner

    :07 - UConn - Goal - O'Brien (Russo) Empty Net

Shots on Goal:

Guppies: 41