Sentinels Outlast Wolves 4-3 in a Shootout

When it comes to what we have seen from the Indiana Sentinels early this season, there is still a lot of meat still on the bone. They know there is still another level or two they need to get to in order to see their full potential.

We have seen flashes of it, sure. The second period against Minnesota in the second game of the year. The first periods in the Friday night game against Topeka and Saturday night against Motor City. Still, there is more to give and that’s what the Sentinels were searching for tonight.

Starting this weekend against Watertown, the Sentinels knew they needed to come away with some crucial inter-divisional points. In the first period, Watertown had the edge on the Sentinels in a penalty-filled period.

The Wolves opened scoring at the 14:39 mark with former Sentinel Donovan Powell ripping a one-timer from the point that beat Cooper Olson over his blocker shoulder to give the Wolves a 1-0 lead.

The Sents tied things up with a neat redirect from Thomas Miller at the side of the net who tipped home a Christian Li wrister to tie the game at one and break a 0-for-17 slump. After twenty minutes, the score was tied at one with the Wolves leading 11 to 8 in shots on net.

In the second period, it was hard to get any flow in the game with all of the trips to the penalty box on either side. A grand total of 28 penalty minutes were taken in the period. Surprisingly, the Sentinels didn’t tally on their powerplays but instead got a shorthanded strike from none other than Christian Yi.

The whole play started thanks to Alex Arnold who, instead of dumping the puck right away, showcased great patience and bumped the puck ahead to Hippolyte-Smith whose shot was blocked right to Yi. All Yi had to do was beat Samuel Zgiet between the legs to pick up his first goal in the FPHL.

The celebrations were short lived as Watertown tied the game just 28 seconds later on a nice setup from Michael Mania who found Gavin Abbot backdoor to tap one into a wide-open net and tie the game at two.

The third period saw the same penalty-filled madness that we saw in the second period. In one of the few moments of even strength play, Ethan Esposito marked his return to the line up with his first goal of the year on a 2-on-0 break to give the Sentinels a 3-2 lead.

That lead would hold until 1:47 remained in the third. The Sentinels were a bit too careless in their own end and coughed up the puck in the slot where Donovan Powell was able to deke out Cooper Olson and tie the game.

Overtime saw the Sentinels get the better of the chances but could not find a way to finish it off, so we went to a shootout. Cooper Olson stopped his first two shooters giving Ethan Esposito a chance to be a hero. Espo waited and got the goaltender to open up the five-hole and put the Sentinels ahead.

Cooper Olson was stoic in net as he stayed with Michael Mania the whole way on the final attempt and shut the door to seal the victory for the Sentinels.

Another one that wasn’t pretty, but they found a way to pull it off. Shots at the end of the game were 32-28 in favor of the Sentinels. On the powerplay, the Wolves were 2/14, and the Sentinels were 1/10.

Tomorrow, the Sents wrap things up in Watertown and look to finish the sweep against the Wolves. We’ll have every moment for you on the Sentinels Hockey Network. Coverage starts with the Body Armor Pre-Game Show at 6:50 pm ET, and puck drop at 7:05 pm ET.