The Dark Knights have shown up to a lot of games in a lot of conditions. Until September 22, nobody had shown up in a suit.
Before puck drop against Red Squadron, former Dark Knight Devan Baldwin walked into the locker room dressed in an actual suit and delivered a pep talk. Mike Taghon, in the goalie coach role, matched the look. Both of them then took their places behind the bench, and for one night the Dark Knights looked like a professional hockey team. Sixty minutes later, the Dark Knights had a 7-2 win and Red Squadron had its first loss of the season.
Dressed for the Occasion
It’s hard to say exactly how much of the win belongs to the coaching staff, but the Dark Knights are comfortable giving them a decent share. Devan Baldwin handled the bench and the pregame speech. Mike Taghon took charge of the goalie coaching. Neither one had to get a stick on the puck to earn their stars, but the vibes were immaculate.
Red Squadron came in with a storyline of its own. Virginia Duffy Sanders was back in the Red Squadron net for just the second time this season after recovering from a torn MCL, and the team arrived with a clean record, though without Greg and Sarah Tucker in the lineup. The Dark Knights dressed 14 skaters to Red Squadron’s 11, which gave us a few more legs to rotate. That kind of depth matters on its own, but it doesn’t explain what happened next.
Fast Out of the Gate
If last season taught the Dark Knights anything, it’s that the first period was usually where we went to find our legs. This season is going differently. Last game against the Crows, the Dark Knights scored four times in the first. This game, they scored three, while holding Red Squadron to just three shots on the other end.
By the first intermission it was 3-0 and the shot count was 10-3 in our favor. The slow-start storyline from last season has not shown up yet this year, and nobody is asking it to.
Lacy Holds the Fort
Red Squadron did what a team with a clean record does after a rough first. It came back at us in the second period, outshooting the Dark Knights 13-5 and scoring twice. The Dark Knights answered with two goals of their own, which kept the lead at 5-2 heading to the third.
That’s also where Lacy Taghon deserves her moment. Red Squadron put 13 shots on her in that period, and she stopped 11 of them. Over the full game, the shot totals were almost even (28 for Red Squadron, 27 for the Dark Knights), which is the kind of night where the goalies decide the outcome. Lacy finished with 26 saves on 28 shots, a .929 save percentage. At the other end, Virginia Duffy Sanders stopped 20 of 27 for a .741. The gap between those two numbers is most of the story of a game where the shot clock stayed so close.
Closing the Door
The Dark Knights have a reputation as a third-period team, a team that likes to wait until the end to get interesting. This time there was nothing to come back from. Protecting a three-goal lead in the third felt unfamiliar, so the team did what felt natural and scored two more.
Red Squadron kept pushing, and the shots in the third were even at 12 apiece. But Lacy Taghon stopped every one of the 12, and the period ended 2-0 in our favor.
Who Really Scored That One?
The official scoresheet has a puzzle in it. It credits both Jaylen Fast and Jeffrey Hanson with a hat trick, but only one of them actually got one. Jeffrey Hanson didn’t just have a hat trick on the night. He had a four-goal game.
The hat trick was the first of his career. And if that wasn’t enough, he went on to score a fourth. According to Jeffrey, he had already decided three was plenty and wasn’t planning to score again. Then Dawne Griffith put another pass on his stick in front of the net, and the puck went in. In his telling, that fourth goal is entirely Dawne’s fault.
That fourth goal is the one the scoresheet gave to Jaylen. The sheet still has him with a hat trick, but those who were there know better, and Jaylen finishes the night with two goals and an assist.
The rest of the scoring was spread around. Jennifer Zorick scored on a breakaway, and the assists went to Cameron Chester (two), Matthew Newberg, Karl Kuchs, and Dawne Griffith, along with Jaylen’s. Seven skaters ended up on the scoresheet.
Staying Out of the Box
For a team with a certain reputation for time in the penalty box, the Dark Knights had a surprisingly quiet night. Tabitha Knight took the team’s only penalty, and Red Squadron failed to convert on it, going 0 for 1 on the power play. The Dark Knights were 1 for 1 on theirs.
One penalty total is a good night for us, and it means Dawne Griffith finished with an assist and zero penalty minutes. Opponents should not get used to it.
Three Stars of the Night
- Jeffrey Hanson — The first hat trick of his career, plus a fourth goal for good measure, even if the scoresheet needs a correction to say so.
- Jennifer Zorick — Scored on a breakaway.
- Devan Baldwin and Mike Taghon — Bench coaches for the night, fully suited up, and a big part of how the Dark Knights got here.