St. Louis Park – Saturday, December 12, 2009. It was old home week as the Northern Horde faced their beginner school rivals, the Diablos. Needless to say it was more of the same. The first period was scoreless until Jon Zimmerman entered the game and fed Gary Speier on the run who knocked the pass out of the air and buried it for his first goal for the crimson and white at 1:11. Zimmerman’s absence was due to “forgetting his skates;” however, Liam Monahan noted Zimmerman made it to the ice much too quickly for a round trip drive to St. Paul. Dan Bolles scored early in the second on a Liam Monahan pass, but the Diablos quickly answered. The Diablos sub-goalie played very well in the game and kept the Horde at bay even though they had significant chances. Finally, the Horde figured out how to beat the Diablos’ goalie and the floodgates opened in the third period. Brian Hinderks put on a one-man show beating three Diablos with a great move from the point. Two minutes later, Jon Nygren scored his first of the season with a blast from two inches (yes, the puck was touching the goal line). Chris Haack and Dan Bolles added goals later in the period, capping off a four point night for Bolles. The Diablos were able to shut down Jeff Nelson on the night, but had no answer for the rest of the team as the Northern Horde outshot the Diablos 48-14. Netminder Pete Morrow was strong again between the pipes and had no problem finishing three pitchers at Bunny’s post-game.
Jeff Nelson opened the scoring at 15:47 of the first period with a breakaway goal set up a strong pass from Chris Haack. The Ice Sages quickly tied it at one all. After he banged one off the post two minutes later, Jon Zimmerman knocked in a Dan Kline pass from behind the net to put the Horde out in front at 9:45 of the first period. The only goal in the second came from Jeff Nelson unassisted. Early in the third¸ Jeff Nelson scored his first hat trick for the Horde, with Dan Kline getting his second assist of the night. However, the Horde were not able to hold off the Sages for the rest of the period and gave up two goals. The overtime was uneventful and the Horde walked away with one point.
