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Halfway effort gets them half way there

Elvis and his mates are going to have to play a full game Sunday if they're to to sweep the Stanley Stick Championship after eking out a win in the opener, 20-18.

The score shouldn't have been that close.

Led by the veteran forward who's playing for his eighth straight championship, the favorites romped to an 11-5 lead, blew it to fall behind 16-15, before clinching the win with a seeing eye screamer from the far end of the court that eluded Nibs' flailing pad.

After spotting their opponents a quick 1-0 lead, they took control by driving hard to the net and crashing a beleaguered goalie, who was trying to atone for his weak start in last year's final that put his team at a huge disadvantage heading into the climactic showdown.

The stalwart backup, who is expected to be replaced by Gump next week after the regular rearguard couldn't make it to Sunday's game, could hardly be blamed for his team's early woes this time. He made some key saves, smothered the ball at opportune moments and gave his team the confidence to flood the offensive zone.

A few bad bounces, however, put them in a seemingly impossible hole.

"We were just trying to get as many shots as we could on net," said Elvis. "We had a lot of muckers and grinders who could jump on the rebounds, try to score the ugly ones."

The five goal advantage seemed to embolden his mates, who seemed to decide to take the middle part of the game off.

"I think we just thought it was going to be easy and we stopped trying," said Velma, who was getting his first taste of Stanley Stick intensity. "We were trying to make the pretty plays and it didn't work."

"I think we got a little too comfortable with our lead," said Elvis. "We eased off a little bit and the other team didn't let up."

It nearly cost them.

With Scooby crashing the end boards and opponents with abandon, and the Colonel finding the target with his blistering slapshot to the high corners of the net, the formerly moribund underdogs battled their way back into the game, wresting their first lead since its earliest moments.

"I think we had them a little bit off their game," said Colonel, who's agitating tactics on the Kid seemed to distract the prolific sniper for a spell. "They weren't focusing completely on what they were doing before."

Having seen their advantage vanish, Elvis and his mates had to regroup. They gathered around their goalie to catch their breath and reestablish their game plan.

"We were still confident," said Elvis. "We knew we weren't out of it, we just had to work a little harder and smarter."

"We knew we should win because we'd had this huge lead," said Velma. "We had to man up a bit."

A quick three-goal outburst gave them back the lead they'd never again relinquish despite some tense moments late in the game.

"I didn't think it would be so tough," said Velma. "They're going to get two stalwart defensive guys next week in Cowboy and Gump. We're going to have to reevaluate our game plan."

"We knew it was important to win this week because next week is going to be a lot tougher," said Elvis.

Meanwhile, the underdogs are optimistic they'll be able to build on their mid-game surge.

"The people coming in are very effective at their positions," said Colonel of the two new teammates, Cowboy Bill and Gump, who are expected to join their lineup for the finale. "We're expecting a much better game next week than this week."

Posted by jaysuburb at May 3, 2009 06:15 PM