Wine House rallies to tie Mikey’s

It was a top-shelf night of town league hockey

 Cold temps, we’re talking sub-zero, blood, drawn by an errant elbow, a couple penalties, some phenomenal goaltending and a comeback. Tuesday night’s town league hockey game between Mikey’s Pizza and the Wine House had everything you could ask for out of amateur hockey, except for a winner, as the two teams played to a 3-3 tie at Big Mine Ice Arena.
Things were looking grim for the Wine House in the opening minutes of the first period as Mikey’s Pizza was slashing through the neutral zone and into the offensive zone with little to no resistance.
Mikey’s spent the better part of three consecutive minutes circling the Wine House net and firing, led by the work of Provincetown hockey prodigy Brandon Clifford and teammate NCAA Division I soccer champion Pat Hoag.
Thanks in part to the work of Wine House netminder Dave McGuire, they held off the assault until the sixth minute when Clifford skated the puck over the blue line and blasted a shot that beat McGuire on the near post.
The Wine House managed to connect for a smattering of offensive plays as Megan Paden chased the puck into the corner to feed Scott Strouse for a wrist shot, but rookie goaltender Paul Moscatelli came up with the save to hold the 1-0 Mikey’s lead.
Team owner/manager Mikey Larsen proved he can do more than sling pizza and slay powder in the eighth minute of the first period, setting up in front of the Wine House net and poking the puck through traffic to put Mikey’s Pizza on top 2-0. Moscatelli stuffed another Wine House shot in close as the period waned and Mikey’s was sitting comfortably on a 2-0 lead heading into the second period.
The Wine House stepped up their effort in the second period to shut off Mikey’s Pizza attack and countered with a flurry of shots, forcing Mikey’s Pizza to hit the panic button and ice the puck three consecutive times in an effort to stave off the onslaught.
The ploy worked as the Wine House ran out of gas midway through the second period, and Clifford struck again, finishing off an assist from Chuck McKenrick.
The turning point in the game started with back-to-back, one-on-one saves by McGuire in the tenth minute. Then, with 47 seconds left in the period the puck squirted free out of the neutral zone toward the Mikey’s Pizza net. Paden caught the Mikey’s Pizza defense sleeping and chased down the loose puck taking it straight to net to beat Moscatelli with a low shot glove side.
The goal rallied the Wine House into the third period with a new tactic mixing slap shot blasts from C.J. Hoigaard from neutral ice with a dump and chase strategy to get the puck into the offensive zone.
Wine House defenseman Eric Dishmon came roaring in like a lion off the blue line on one offensive attack to punch the puck past Moscatelli, and cut the Mikey’s Pizza lead down to one, five minutes into the third period.
Dan Law and Colby Deer maintained the Wine House hustle in the neutral zone and relentless back checking continued to handcuff the Pizza attack through the middle of the third period.
Mikey’s Pizza found the Wine House pressing and out of position and skated up ice for a two-on-one, but McGuire made the initial save and Dishmon cleared the loose puck from in front of the net and the Wine House called a timeout to settle and refocus.
The break was just what the Wine House needed as Hoigaard found fresh legs to skate through the Mikey’s defense for a clear path to net. Moscatelli  shut Hoigaard down but Tyler Sweeney followed the play and stuffed home the rebound, tying the game 3-3 with just under five minutes left to play.
The Wine House killed a penalty down the stretch and McGuire and Moscatelli traded off brilliant saves in net to finish the game notched in a 3-3 tie.