Sometimes the puck just doesn’t go in the net.
The Reeths-Puffer hockey team outshot Kenowa Hills on Wednesday by a decisive 52-26 margin, but victories aren’t won with shots on goal.
The Rockets were frustrated for three periods and ended up dropping a 3-2 decision to the Knights in non-conference action at Muskegon’s Trinity Health Arena.
Ayden Hartzell
The defeat snapped R-P's impressive four-game winning streak.
"We can’t say we didn’t have our chances!” said R-P head coach Dustin Langlois. “We ran into a hot goalie tonight, but overall our boys played well. The guys were implementing a lot of things we have been working on and talking about, and we didn’t have a single penalty. The puck just wouldn’t go in the net."
The Rockets had a pretty amazing 20-4 shot advantage in the first period, but the score remained 0-0 heading into the second.
R-P’s Ayden Hartzell broke the deadlock with a goal 53 seconds into the second period. Kenowa Hills answered four minutes later, then scored again with 5:35 left on the clock and took a 2-1 lead to the locker room.
Trenton Hanks
The Rockets failed to capitalize on three power play opportunities in the third period.
The Knights scored their third goal with 9:57 left in the game to take a 3-1 lead. Trenton Hanks added a goal for R-P, with an assist from Tyler Cuti, but that was all the Rockets could muster.
Goalie Mark Stewart took the tough luck loss in net for the Rockets.
Reeths-Puffer, now 5-2 on the season, will try to get back to its winning ways against rival Mona Shores on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Trinity Health Arena.