The Hastings Raiders boys hockey ended in defeat to the Eastview Lightning in a game marred by penalties for both teams.
1st Period: Relatively early on, it was actually Hastings controlling the tempo of the contest as the Raiders held Eastview off the shots counter for a good five minutes before the Lightning registered their first shot, but it was Eastview scoring first, as 6:35 into the period they would find the back of the net to make it 1-0. 1 minute later it was 2-0 and the Raiders were in trouble. An unassisted goal at 15:39 made it 3-0 and the Raiders had work to do after a penalty filled first period.
2nd Period: To quote the longtime Hastings Civic Arena PA announcer, “Penalties? Yes there were”. That was again the theme of the period, with the Lightning capitalizing twice on said power plays, and an additional two times even strength to make it 7-0. The Lightning had an even harder time staying out of the box, but they still managed to put four goals in the back of the net, and on the 44th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice, the Raiders needed one.
3rd Period: There would be no scoring in the third period as the clock ran from beginning to end, but there were plenty of more penalties. Eastview had two players get 10:00 penalties and Hastings had a 5:00 penalty. The Raiders sadly were not able to claw their way back and 7-0 ended up being the final score.
The Raiders end their season with a 16-10-1 record and 6-6 in the conference.
