Yellow Jackets vs. Orange Lantern, Febuary 21st, 2007 Jackets Rise then Fall Hard to Orange Lantern Coming off a forfeit victory, the Yellow Jackets were eager to face a live opponent. Taking on the Orange Lantern is never a small task, as the Jackets were reminded 6 minutes into the period, when the Orange Lantern struck first, scoring the first goal of the contest. The Jackets were then able to draw a powerplay and Marat Shikhris was able to take a Kevin Fogarty pass in to the O.L. zone and snap the puck past the netminder for his 17th goal of the season. Another O.L. penalty gave the Jacket’s recently hot powerplay another chance to flex it’s muscles. Carrying the puck out of the Jacket zone, Allan LaRobardier dished the puck over to Tanner Finnan, returning to Jackets after missing 5 games. Finnan’s drive was stopped by the O.L. goalie but LaRobardier drove hard to the net and potted the rebound to score his 4th of the season, giving the Jackets a 2-1 lead at the end of the first. A hard fought second period, with both teams playing well, was highlighted by a O.L. goal by Connor Casey whom beat Jacket goaltender Matt Rovetto, who has been playing especially well over the second half of the season. Towards the end of the frame, the Jackets seemed to be building momentum to carry into the third. The final period was a thing of beauty and disgrace for the Jackets. Early in the period, Tanner Finnan retrieved the puck on the right wing boards, thought about giving it to the point just long enough to confuse his checker and he drove the puck on net. A couple of bounces, and the Jackets had a 2 goal lead on Finnan’s 10th. Dan Levy continued the scoring, notching another powerplay goal for the Jackets with a knuckling shot from the left point that zig-zagged its way into the top corner. Continuing their domination of the period, the Jackets tallied again, this time with good work down low by James Browne and George Remennik turning into another Finnan goal, his 11th, to put the Jackets up 5-2 with 10 minutes to play. Then it all went to hell. With the dreaded 3 goal lead in place, the Jackets let up and allowed the O.L. to walk all over them. Playing with inexcusable sloppiness, the Jackets were trounced on 4 straight goals in between the 8 and 4 minute marks of the final period. Leaving guys open in the slot and not clearing the zone were just a few of the Jackets mistakes that O.L. did not fail to capitalize on. With just under 4 minutes, down by one, Michael Earl drew a roughing penalty, but handed the powerplay away smacking the O.L. player with his stick in retaliation. With just over a minute left, the Jackets were able to draw another powerplay, and despite pulling the goaltender and golden chances that included a drive from Tanner Finnan and a deflection by Mike Heller that just went wide, the Jackets could not knot the score, and fell to the O.L. in a game they had already won. Now, instead of steaming into the playoffs… The Jackets limp in to a contest with an opponent that has had them solved in the past come playoff time, Colt 45.

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