On a night where Park City dominated on the shot counter, its best opportunity came when the Miners were down a man.
With the game tied 1-1 late in the third period, Park City won the faceoff in its own zone and cleared the puck down the length of the ice. Micah Procino chased it down, won the puck behind the net, circled around the net and found Xander Riessen in the middle of the attacking zone. Riessen one-timed Procino’s feed past Herriman netminder Wyatt Daugherty to put the Miners in front with 2:13 left.
Riessen’s shorthanded marker stood as the game-winning goal for Park City on Tuesday night at the Park City Ice Arena, as the Miners killed off the rest of the penalty and held on to the 2-1 lead. Park City scored a big win on home ice after suffering its first loss of the season last week against UCI-North in a 2-1 decision.
“I told the players, you’re thinking block shots, clear it 200 feet, and if you have a chance to step on it and go, you go, and Micah did that,” Miners coach Jack Skille said. “That’s their second short-hander together, almost an identical play as our last home game, so that’s why I love the game. You’re facing difficult odds and somehow you squeak by with a win.”
Park City took two penalties in the opening minutes to create a five-on-three power-play opportunity for Herriman. The Mustangs cashed in to take 1-0 lead. Park City had a couple of power plays of its own in the first period but failed to take advantage.
Penalties late in the opening period meant both teams were playing with four players. The Miners won a faceoff in their attacking zone, allowing Connor Smith to blast a shot from the blue line. The puck took a deflection off Rigan McIntosh’s stick and into the back of the net to tie the game.
The second period was marred by a high hit on Park City’s Morgan Carter that drew a major penalty and a game misconduct. The Miners were also given a minor penalty for retaliation on the play. Park City drew another penalty and enjoyed a four-on-three power play before briefly being up two players and then going back to five-on-four play. However, the Miners couldn’t take advantage, and the score was still deadlocked heading into the third.
“I think our power play was actually decent, we were moving the puck towards the end of the game, we were getting some good shots on net, but I think our net-front traffic needs work,” Skille said. “We’re pretty heavy on the point right now, we need to work on other options, and it’s a work in progress.”
The Miners dominated in the third period in search of a game-winning goal, but they couldn’t beat Daugherty. Herriman’s defense mostly kept Park City’s offense to the outside all night long, but it still allowed a barrage of shots at the net.
Then in the waning minutes, the Miners finally broke through with Riessen’s goal.
“It’s big for our group to respond that way, I thought Herriman did a great job of playing structured,” Miners coach Jack Skille said. “Tip my hat to their goalie, he had a good night for them. They contained us a lot of the time, we had a lot of zone time, but they kept it to a 2-1 game. I commend them for that, they’re a good hockey team, they’re well-coached.”