Eagles continue to steamroll competition

If Halla could have the second period back they would feel a lot better about Saturday night. Prior to the game Ben Song, team interpreter, said that while Oji was tough, they were hopeful they would have a good showing. Last years champions, Oji Eagles, have been perfect since the season started and weren't about to change that on their fourth game in Korea, however.

Halla had three players returning from Finland joining the team. Woo-sang Park, Don-Ku Lee, and Min-ho Cho. Also Ho-sung Son dressed for his first game since returning from military service, but served as back-up netminder.

Halla got on the board first with a powerplay goal from Woo-sang Park. With Kuji in the box for holding, Woo-sang surprised many by slipping the puck past the Eagles goalie. Early in the first period Kawashima went down hard along the boards on a hit from Radunske. He laid on the ice for a bit, but eventually managed to get off under his own power.

In the second period, it was all Eagles, but not without a little controversy. The Ealges scored their first goal, a power play goal, on a puck that clearly seemed to cross the blue line but was called on-side by the linesman. The linesmen seemed to have their wires crossed during the game as a couple of times they contradicted each other on the same play. After scoring three quick goals, a fourth goal was waved off as the Halla keeper managed to snag it before it crossed the line. Oji had been celebrating, but the referee consulted with the goal judge and indicated that it was no-goal. It made little difference as Oji scored again a minute later. All told, Oji scored four goals in less than 10 minutes.

Halla started the third on the penalty kill with Dong-hwan Kim in the box for his first of three penalties in the game. Oji made them pay and quickly scored a fifth goal. Halla showed some life as Bum-jin Kim scored his first goal of the season. He was only about 2 meters outside the blueline when he let a hard slapshot go. The shot fooled the Oji netminder who caught a piece of the puck on his arm and it found the back of the net. However, as Halla tried to build momentum Dong-hwan took another penalty and then with just over a minute left he took another one to close out the game.

Oji had five different players score their five goals. This is a trend for them this season as there are no real stand-out points leaders on the team. Oji has six different players with 8 or 9 points and others not far behind. This is in contrast to teams, like the Freeblades, who have some clear stand-out points leaders. Despite 5 goals and 10 assists, no player had more than 2 points Saturday night.

Halla will look to snap the Eagle's winning streak again on Sunday night.

 

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