The Calgary Stallions delivered a clinic in special teams and goaltending, blanking their city rivals the Calgary Rockies 3-0 in a tightly contested Junior Prospects Hockey League matchup. The game was decided early on special teams, with the Stallions capitalizing on their power play opportunities while their penalty kill and goaltender Matthew Tucker stood tall. Tucker was the undisputed star of the night, turning away all 23 shots he faced to earn a shutout victory, frustrating the Rockies' offense at every turn.
The Stallions set the tone in the first period. Just moments after killing off a holding penalty to Oliver Kendall, they went to work on their own man advantage. With Cale Grummett in the box for interference, the Stallions' power play connected. Greg Milne, wearing number 87, opened the scoring at 1:50, finishing a play set up by Jakob Pugliese and Elliott Wilson. The Rockies' penalty troubles continued into the second period, and the Stallions struck again on the power play. Just 49 seconds into the middle frame, Brady Baun found the back of the net, assisted by Kendall, to double the lead to 2-0. The period was marred by a series of roughing and tripping minors, including coincidental roughing calls to the Rockies' Brayden Pickard and the Stallions' Sean Morin, as tensions began to simmer.
The third period saw the Rockies desperately trying to solve Tucker, but the Stallions' netminder was impenetrable. The Rockies' frustration mounted, leading to penalties for hooking by Kydon Hemsing and boarding by Jacob Beer. The Stallions also faced discipline issues, as Cade Bouchard was assessed two separate illegal check to the head minors, the second resulting in a misconduct. Despite a late power play chance, the Rockies could not break through. With just over three minutes remaining, Elliott Wilson sealed the victory with an empty-net goal, his second point of the night, to finalize the 3-0 scoreline. The Stallions' defensive structure and Tucker's flawless performance in net proved to be an unbeatable combination, handing the Rockies a tough loss on home ice.
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