The Florida Eels Elite team came out on fire in their season openers in Atlanta winning both games and scoring 6 in both games. In game one they were a head 6-1 going into the 3rdbut the Madhatters showed their determination and resilience scoring 4 of their own in that period bringing it to 6-5 final. It showed how good their team was and the Eels had to hold them off. No doubt the Eels was a better team in skill, but it showed we could not take anything or anyone for granted.
In game two the Madhatters came out with the same hunger as they had in period 3 of game one. But the Eels battled back, and they showed their determination and resolve and continued their firing of its weapons to secure the win. Final 6-3. This was the first game in juniors for many players on the Elite team. They got to experience first-hand playing 20-minute periods, the heightened speed and quickness the hitting and fire power of players. No doubt it was a learning experience for them, but they came up victorious and enjoyed the sweep
Scoring for the games went as follows:
Florida Eels 6 at Atlanta Mad Hatters 5 – Status: Final
Saturday, September 14, 2019 – Atlanta Ice House
Florida Eels 3 3 0 – 6
Atlanta Mad Hatters 0 3 2 – 5
1st Period-1, Florida Eels, Goral 1 (Medina, Timochko), 0:43. 2, Florida Eels, McLeod 1 (Friz, Harrop), 1:31. 3, Florida Eels, Thomas 1 (Burtzlaff, Goral), 5:00 (PP). Penalties-Smith Eel (interference), 2:31; Yakimovich Atl (bench -too many players on the ice), 4:00; Heibeck Atl (high-sticking), 6:00; Harrop Eel (roughing), 8:00; Strauss Atl (roughing), 10:00; Fishman Atl (roughing), 16:41.
2nd Period-4, Atlanta Mad Hatters, Runci 1 1:23. 5, Florida Eels, Burtzlaff 1 (Smith, Moore), 10:17 (PP). 6, Florida Eels, Simbro 1 (Thomas), 10:50 (PP). 7, Florida Eels, Goral 2 (Medina, Burtzlaff), 14:41. 8, Atlanta Mad Hatters, Depuydt 1 (Santa Maria, Strauss), 15:37. 9, Atlanta Mad Hatters, Runci 2 (Fishman), 17:25. Penalties-Clift Eel (tripping), 2:41; Heibeck Atl (cross-checking), 10:50; Runci Atl (slashing), 10:50; Kouzmine Atl (hooking), 14:41; Friz Eel (interference), 18:00.
3rd Period-10, Atlanta Mad Hatters, Fishman 1 (Runci), 4:16 (SH). 11, Atlanta Mad Hatters, Fishman 2 (Heibeck, Depuydt), 16:33 (SH). Penalties-Timochko Eel (high-sticking), 0:00; Santa Maria Atl (tripping), 0:00; Strauss Atl (interference), 0:00; Santa Maria Atl (high-sticking), 4:16; Strauss Atl (boarding), 4:16; Santa Maria Atl (cross-checking), 16:33; Goral Eel (bench -unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:33.
Shots on Goal-Florida Eels 15-16-10-41. Atlanta Mad Hatters 10-15-12-37.
Power Play Opportunities-Florida Eels 3 / 12; Atlanta Mad Hatters 0 / 6.
Goalies-Florida Eels, Vaillancourt 1-0-0-0 (37 shots-32 saves). Atlanta Mad Hatters, Fransson 0-2-0-0 (41 shots-35 saves).
Florida Eels 6 at Atlanta Mad Hatters 3 – Status: Final
Sunday, September 15, 2019 – Atlanta Ice House
Florida Eels 2 2 2 – 6
Atlanta Mad Hatters 1 2 0 – 3
1st Period-1, Florida Eels, Melikov 1 (Cioffi, Timochko), 8:13. 2, Atlanta Mad Hatters, Yakimovich 1 (Crawford), 10:33. 3, Florida Eels, Thomas 2 11:28. Penalties-Smith Eel (tripping), 4:51; Harrop Eel (slashing), 13:50.
2nd Period-4, Atlanta Mad Hatters, Runci 3 (Strauss, Fishman), 6:03 (PP). 5, Florida Eels, Desmarais 1 (Thomas), 9:01 (PP). 6, Atlanta Mad Hatters, Fishman 3 (Runci), 14:05. 7, Florida Eels, Friz 1 17:55 (SH). Penalties-Huitt Eel (cross-checking), 4:53; Depuydt Atl (high-sticking), 7:38; Harrop Eel (cross-checking), 17:20.
3rd Period-8, Florida Eels, Espinasse 1 (Friz), 3:26. 9, Florida Eels, Goral 3 (Medina), 10:26. Penalties-Desmarais Eel (cross-checking), 9:01; Melikov Eel (holding), 17:12; Desmarais Eel (slashing), 20:00.
Shots on Goal-Florida Eels 8-13-8-29. Atlanta Mad Hatters 8-12-10-30.
Power Play Opportunities-Florida Eels 1 / 1; Atlanta Mad Hatters 1 / 7.
Goalies-Florida Eels, Mezsargs 1-0-0-0 (30 shots-27 saves). Atlanta Mad Hatters, Fransson 0-2-0-0 (29 shots-23 saves).
