Official Game Summary

Glastonbury, CT August 28, 2008. ZRink - Killingworth Guppies Summer 2008 season.

08/28/2008- Thursday night the Guppies opened up the Summer 2008 Playoffs with a Best of Three mini series vs House Brothers. Its a new playoff system that the Zrink is trying out this season. The 2nd Guppies faced off against the 3rd ranked House Brothers team, a team that led the league in penalty minutes and if you saw the game and their lumber jack techniques you could understand why. The Gupps were shorthanded despite the fact that it was a playoff game. Brian Mulcahy wasn't in the lineup because he and Bucci had already planned a quiet picnic for that night. Meanwhile, Jason Zito was over in East Hartford watching UConn Football take on National Powerhouse HOFSTRA! and Finally, Jon Stevenson was driving around Long Island, with his dog, hauling cars.....Think of twisted version of the tv show "BJ and the Bear"! Despite the short numbers the Guppies had a fast start as Brian Kelly (5-0-5) took a drop pass from Dan Pequita (1-1-2) a fired a long slap shot into the House Brothers net. HB was just a quick to respond tying the game a one only a minute and a half later. However, Pequita finished a great passing play from Keith Millen (1-1-2) and Rob Murphy (0-3-3) to give the Fish a lead again. Kelly would make it 3-1 only moments later when he knocked down a HB clearing attempt with his stick and then scored Top Cheese on the HB netminder. "When Kelly is making plays like that the apocalypse has to be coming" stated Guppies goaltender Joe Linskey. Kelly would score again to give the Fish a commanding 4-1 lead, however, HB wasn't about to go away that easily.  They would score with just over three minutes remaining in the game to make it 4-2! HB poured on the pressure but Linskey was great in the Guppies net making several tough saves. Kelly scored his 4th goal with under two minutes remaining to give the Gupps a three goal lead yet again. Despite scoring one final time in the final moments of the half, the House Brothers never came close and the Guppies took game One 5-3!

Game Two:  In game two the Guppies looked to be slower than they were in game one? Could the fish have a conditioning problem? Guppies conditioning coach Artie Lange says No "I think they look great! Where's my bagel?" Despite the slower fins the Guppies managed to grab the lead as Marc Crayton (0-1-1) made a nice pass from behind the HB's net and found Brian Kelly in the high slot. Kelly fired a slap shot into the net.  Both teams had chances to score but goaltending and a few posts kept both teams at bay. With less than three minutes left in the game the Guppies seemed content on sitting on their 1-0 lead. However, HB made a final push and scored the tying goal with only 2:27 left in the game. It was a long 2:27 as House Brothers found new life and swarmed in the Guppies zone. Linskey equaled the HB great play and forced the game into Overtime. In OT, the late arriving Jon Stevenson (BJ but no Bear) was called for slashing. On the penalty kill the Gupps were pinned in their zone until Murphy picked up the puck and made a pass to  a streaking Keith Millen. Millen walked in on a breakaway. He fired the puck which was stopped by the HB netminder however, the rebound kicked out to Millen and he buried the second opportunity GUPPIES WIN, GUPPIES WIN,  THE GUPPIES WIN!

The Guppies now face off against the top seeded Jimmy Stickhandle team which advanced to the Finals after the Fire Ants forfeited their game. The Championship game is Thursday September 4th at 7pm. Tickets are limited. There will be group viewing's of the game in Killingworth at Junes Bar, The Killingworth Inn, and on a big screen at Sheldon Field.

SIDE NOTES:

- Brian Mulcahy and Jason Zito were healthy scratches.

- Every season the Guppies have made the playoffs, since moving to the Zrink in 2002, they have made it to the Championship Game

BOX SCORES: