The Delta Sturgeon proved they were King, takeing 2 of 3 from the River Rats.

Game 1 was stolen by Steve Shields. "You need to have your goalie steal some
games for you, and Steve was just marvelous in this one. We really did not play
well today, and he kept us from being harpooned." said GM Martin. Mike Johnson
netted his second goal of the season, and Shields stopped 34 shots to pickup the
shutout victory over Madison. "I was just seeing the puck real well. Sometimes
you just have games like that" said Shields.

In game 2, Trevor Linden burned his former team for 2 goals, including the game
winner. On a line with Shayne Corson, who also notched 2 goals, he was
unstoppable. Linden and Corson each had 2 goals and 1 assist, and Delta barely
got Stephane Fiset to break a sweat with only 22 shots on goal. Radek Dvorak
notched the lone Delta goal for his 1st of the season.

Game 3 was wild as it looked like the Fish were going down to yet another
shutout defeat. Entering the 3rd period, Delta had been outshot 21-16, and
trailed 2-0 on goals by Steve Thomas and Gord Murphy. However, a forechecking
frenzy in the 3rd allowed the Sturgeon to outshoot Madison 19-9 in the 3rd
period, and included 3 goals from the 3rd line. James Black notched a pair, and
Blair Atcheynum notched the game-winner with just 4 seconds in regulation for
the win. The game tying goal also came with less than 2 minutes remaining in the
contest as the Rats saw thier win get away from them late in the game.

Delta was a remarkable 4-5-1 on the quarter, thanks to simply outstanding
goaltending by Shields in all but 1 game. He was definitely the MVP for the
quarter. With most of the stars sitting out to get over various injuries, this
team should get better. Are the playoffs in sight? It's very soon, but it looks
like Delta may be in the running.

"Steve was a great player to pickup. Knowing that we've got Steve and Damian
back there should help us generate more offensive chances since we know they can
bail us out. This is the kind of progress we need to continue making as a
franchise. We need to play good solid defense, and capitalize on our chances."

Steve Shield's stats:

Shields 10 605 318 22 2.18 4 5 1 1 1 0.935


Andrew Martin


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