Aalborg Pirates got a small plaster on the wound when they secured the DM bronze after two matches against Herning, but the medals can hardly make up for the disappointment of the missed DM final.
The last game of the season on North Jutland ice was very reminiscent of the one that started it about eight months ago. The bronze match between Aalborg Pirates and Herning Blue Fox had about the same intensity and excitement as a training match.
What was lacking in nerve and defensive concentration was made up for by a sea of chances the size of the Kattegat.
Aalborg as well as Herning created plenty of chances, but it was the North Jutland team that had the most sharpness on the ice.
Søren Dietz-Larsen opened with a score after a major blunder in the Herning defence.
The defensive lethargy reached new heights soon after, when George Sørensen was involuntarily involved in Herning’s equaliser. He went behind the goal to stop a puck, but something went wrong in the communication with his teammates, because all of a sudden the puck ended up in front of his own goal with George Sørensen stranded behind the goal. It was very reminiscent of one of the goals that Esbjerg scored in the first DM semi-final.
Jesper Thörnberg thanked for the gift and made it 1-1. However, Pirates showed that they still had more to shoot for. Anders Koch knocked the puck into the goal to make it 2-1 before the end of the first period, and shortly into the second period, Nikolaj Carstensen followed suit when he scored to make it 3-1.
In a match with more big chances than stoppage time, it was far too early to write Herning off. There were plenty of good offers for the guests from Central Jutland.
One of them used Victor Cubars to make it 2-3. That meant it was still an open game going into the third period.
Again, there were plenty of chances at both ends, but unlike the first two periods, no goals came out of the many chances. The Pirates fans in particular lived well with that. The biggest roar of cheers occurred when the loudspeaker announced that the subsequent jersey auction would be accompanied by 700 liters of free draft beer.
With the 3-2 victory, Aalborg Pirates wins the two bronze games together with 6-5.
2024-04-13 19:01:57
#Pirates #secured #bronze #patch