Don McDermott reports as the London Raiders’ poor start to 2016 continued on Sunday night as the club were shut out by Invicta Dynamos, 3-0, on home ice…
Adam Mcnicoll, Joshua Condren and Eriks Ozollapa, scored for Invicta, whilst the Raiders struggled to capitalize on their many chances, most notably a penalty shot awarded to Bailey Chittock late in the third period.
Yet to win a game this year, the sixth consecutive loss put the Raiders 20 points behind league leaders, Chelmsford Chieftains. The East London side have not been in the win column since 19 December, when they thrashed the Streatham Redskins, 10-4.
Against Invicta, London’s penalty-killing unit was quickly put to the test as Mason Webster was penalized for slashing, just 1:13mins into the match.
The visitors had a goal disallowed for an offside just minutes later. Ozollapa sent the puck flying across the face of the Raiders’ net and it was then directed into the goal, only for the score to be ruled out as the creator Ozollapa had been in an offside position.
Invicta went on to have the best chances in the first period. Though, Raiders debutant goalie Ryan Bainborough was stellar between the pipes, twice denying Ozollapa from right in front of the net.
Missed opportunity
The Dynamos eventually found their breakthrough after Slovakian international Marek Nahlik was penalized for tripping Condren in the 13th minute. Adam Mcnicoll made the most of his side’s man advantage, rattling the puck off of the crossbar and into the net to give Invicta the lead.
Former Raider Condren doubled the visitors’ lead by on the 16:24 mark, and he had a chance to net a second shortly after he was tripped up on a breakaway and awarded a penalty shot. But Condren couldn’t convert as he slipped coming in on Bainborough and couldn’t get a shot off.
Invicta picked up another great chance with just seconds remaining in the period, but Rob Jenner, making his 250th appearance as a London Raider, made a tremendous block with his stick as the puck was in mid-air.
Trailing by two goals, the Raiders had an early chance in the second period when two Invicta men were penalized just 14 seconds apart, giving the Raiders a two-man advantage.
The Dynamos were not held back by the shortage, nearly scoring a short-handed goal after a pass along the blue line from Jenner was mishandled and Invicta were handed a breakaway chance that Bainborough did well to keep out.
The Raiders quickly recovered and had several good opportunities throughout the power play, but still could not find a goal as Invicta netminder Damien King continued to deny them.
Frustration
Bainborough also continued his excellence, producing yet another athletic save, as he sprawled to the right, rolled over across the mouth of the net and then smothered the puck diving to the left.
But his heroics could not stop a dominant Invicta. A Raiders defenceman slipped as he tried to move the puck out of the defensive zone, and Invicta’s Damian Welch took possession and passed across to Condren, who sent the puck on to Ozollapa who scored from in front of the net to conclude proceedings.
Nahlik had two strong shots denied by King in the middle of the period, and then the two teams had a small tussle after a scramble in front of the net, with Invicta trying to bury the puck home in the 38th minute.
Bainborough again had to deny a point-blank shot early in the final period, but it was the Raiders who had most of the chances as they sent a flurry of shots at King.
With 1:22mins remaining, Chittock was given a penalty shot but his attempt went wide and concluded a frustrating match for the Raiders, in which they led Invicta in shots on goal, 39 to 31, but still lost, 3-0.