Bat Yam II and Haifa now both boast 7-1-0 records, but Haifa has better goal differential.
By LIONEL GAFFENice hockey 88(photo credit: )
Haifa dominated Bat Yam II 6-2 in local hockey action at the Canada Center in Metulla on Friday night to move into first place.
Bat Yam II, which took a narrow 2-1 win in their previous encounter, and Haifa now both boast 7-1-0 records, but Haifa controls first place thanks to better goal differential.
Vladimir Shipinsky tallied first for Haifa, just over two minutes into the game. When Leonid Trupanov fired one past Alexander Loginov just three minutes later, it looked to be a long night for BY II. Eleven minutes later, Shipinsky collected his second, which ended the first period scoring.
Artium Korotin made it 4-0 close to the halfway mark, and it looked like a rout was about to take place, particularly when Haifa went on a power play offensive two minutes later.
However, BYII's Alexander Litvak scored past Boris Amromin on a short-handed breakaway to close the gap. Minutes later Avishai Geller fired a line drive past Amromin to make it 4-2, to end the second frame scoring.
The action was fast and furious in a closely fought third period. As the game heated up, tempers flared and a fight broke out in the BY II goal crease, sending Litvak and Dmitry Rosenman to the penalty box. Less than a minute later Geller was sent off for tripping, and BY II suffered the consequences as Korotin notched his second of the night on the power play at the 48 minute mark.
Later in the period, BY II had the chance to fight back, but weren't able to capitalize on a power play, and then, with three minutes to go, Alexander Stolyar iced the game.
In the early game, A fired up Metulla team trounced a seemingly helpless and hapless Bat Yam I side 11-0.
Metulla is comprised of many of the Israel national under-18 squad that just returned from the World Championships in Romania with a silver medal.
Evgeny Gussin single-handedly held Metulla to a narrow last minute 2-1 win in their previous matchup, facing 60 shots on goal with incredible acrobatics. But he was not in his Superman outfit for this game, managing to turn aside only 37 of the 48 shots that he had to handle.
Yoni Knitor had a hat trick, while Michael Horowitz and Shalev Nemenoff each had two. Danny Cohen, Harel Harush and Ivan Maklakov all scored, and the team also benefited from a self-goal.
The semifinal playoffs begin next Friday, as Haifa takes on Ma'alot, while BY II will meet Metulla.
The following Friday will see the Junior league semifinals take place. Please submit items for 'Games
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