Game # 1 is officially in the books and that is pretty much all we will say.  After all, it is only game # 1 and as was earlier predicted and pretty much verified last night, this is going to be a long, tough, hard fought series. There is not much to choose between these two combatants and as is normally the case, this series will  be won by the team that is more determined, works hardest and is most willing to pay the price.

There were barely two minutes run off the clock when Meyer Neal opened the scoring for the Hawks in the first period. In the second, goals from Zach Odwak and Kyle Morton gave the Twins a one goal lead heading into the third. Cole Zadro would score on a Twins PP to give them some insurance and a two goal cushion. With the Hawk’s net vacant, Dylan Zeke would bring the fans to the edge of the seats with his goal with a minute and 45 seconds to go. The Hawks would apply pressure, including ringing a shot off the iron but the Twins would survive the late Hawk surge and head back to the cozy confines of the Century with a road victory and more importantly, a lead in the series.

Mario Fiorentino stood tall between the pipes for the Twins turning aside 36 of the 38 shots directed his way to earn the win. Ryan Hall stopped 31 of the 34 pucks he faced. Both goalies played well and gave their teams an opportunity to win. The Twins won both sides of the specialty teams battle, going 1 for 4 on their odd man advantages and killing off both Hawk’s PP opportunities.

These teams are set to do it all again on Friday, March 9th and the venue will be the Century Arena. Puck drops at 7:30 p.m. It will be a dandy, see you there!