The Tampa Bay Juniors Elite team skated away with a 3-0 shutout victory over the Atlanta Mad Hatter Friday evening, off the back of a Kelan Jamison hat trick. Not having much work to do, Shane Passaro took the win and secured a 15-save shutout in the victory.
Despite the loss, Devin Diller was incredible for Atlanta, keeping his team in the game throughout the entirety of it, stopping 38-of-41.
Tampa finished the game going 1 for 6 on the powerplay, while Atlanta was 0-for-3.
First Period
Two minutes into the opening frame, Tampa opened the scoring. Off a play that saw Jaxson Clark drive the net and create chaos in front, Jamison was able to find the loose puck in the paint and bury it home for his first of the season. 20 seconds later, Jamison notched his second of the game thanks to a beautiful back door pass from Keega Thurber. Jamison made no mistake to bare down on his stick, and tap the puck into the back of the net.
Already down early in the game, Tampa had the chance to add on a powerplay goal as William Grogen was called for cross-checking. Already smelling blood, Tampa jumped on Atlanta early on in the powerplay, but the Mad Hatters were able to hang on and get a clear. Having just killed off the penalty, the Mad Hatters when right back on to the kill as they were caught in a change with six players on the ice. A very passive, but effective Atlanta penalty kill was able to kill of a second-straight penalty, and get things back to 5-on-5.
Just seconds after killing off their powerplay, a bad turnover by the Mad Hatters defenseman allowed for the Juniors to get a grade-A scoring chance on a breakaway. Diller was calm under pressure, reading the play perfectly to deny Tampa of extending it’s lead further.
The first period was completely dominated by the Juniors. They outshot the Mad Hatters heavily by a 13-4 total. Tampa went 0-for-2 on it’s two chances on the man advantage.
Second Period
At 3:09 of the second period, Tampa had a big opportunity as they had a 2-on-0 situation, with just the goalie in sight. Going from right to left, Diller was able to stretch his leg all the way out and get his left pad on the puck. Up until this point in the game, it was the save of the night.
Throughout the entirety of the second period, Tampa dominated on both end of the ice. With 4:30 to go, Tampa had kept Atlanta to just five shots in the period, while peppering Diller with 11. Shift after shift, the Juniors continued to have odd-man breaks, but somehow were not able to convert and extend their lead.
With 1:09 left in the middle frame, the Mad Hatters had a huge opportunity as they went on the powerplay. Tampa’s Andrew Wagenhauser was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for kneeing. Atlanta made life difficult on themselves as they mishandled the puck amny times, allowing Tampa to easily kill off the remaining time in the period. To end the period, they made matters worse as Grogan would be called for interference at the buzzer to end the period, nullifying two minutes of their own powerplay.
Tampa again heavily outshot Atlanta by a 14-5 margin, carrying a 2-0 lead into the final period.
Third Period
Through the first seven and a half minutes, Tampa was all over Atlanta. They put up 10 shots, and like a fish out of water, Diller was flopping around to keep everything out of the net and keep his team in the game, which he did successfully.
At 8:45, Atlanta had a great chance and shot to bring the game within one. Joey Bledsoe, wisely, took a quick shot far side. By the knob of his stick, Passaro was able to get just enough to deflect the puck out of play, keeping his shutout in tact.
With 2:47 remaining, Tampa added on a powerplay goal as Joseph Rebone would be called for tripping at 13:36. A pass from Jamison took a bounce of an Atlanta skate, and into the back of the net to complete his hat trick. Carter Trussler and Robert Zettler picked up the assists.
Tampa would come away with the 3-0 victory, outshooting Atlanta 14-6 in the final frame.
