Brent Kelly recorded his 400th career point with the Ironmen in the win over the Ice Jacks.

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DELTA, British Columbia (CP) ------ The Ironmen were back in action on Saturday night 72 hours after coming up short against the Drillers. The opposition for the men of metal in this contest, the first place Ice Jacks. The Ice Jacks won both of their first two games outscoring their competition 16-2.

Both teams were short players for this late Saturday evening contest, with the Ironmen dressing ten skaters while the Ice Jacks had eleven skaters in their line-up. 

The Ironmen came out ready to play; from the opening face-off the Ironmen controlled the play in the Ice Jacks zone.  The Ironmen were skating well and the overall effort level was vastly improved over their last outing.  However, they appeared to be right back where they left off last game, having to dispatch their penalty killing unit 2:14 into the game. The Ironmen penalty kill was strong and very aggressive producing a Mike Andrus breakaway that resulted in a penalty shot being awarded at the 11:48 mark. Andrus made a nice attempt, but he was unable to slip the puck past the Ice Jacks netminder.  The Ironmen went on to kill that penalty along with another penalty, before opening the scoring with 2:46 remaining in the 1st period.  Steve Meadows fed Brent Kelly with a past that sent in Kelly and line-mates Mike Andrus and Rick Makarowski away on a three-on-one.  Kelly looked to Andrus then opted for Makarowski who buried his first of the season with a low hard shot. Twenty-four seconds later, the Ironmen were on their way back to the penalty box, and once again Mike Andrus was sprung for a shorthanded breakaway, this time Andrus made no mistake finding the back of the net and giving the Ironmen a 2-0 lead. The Ironmen would get to start the second period on the power play when the Ice Jacks took a retaliatory penalty with seven seconds left in period one. The Ironmen out shot the Ice Jacks 7-5 in the first period.

The Ironmen could not capitalize on the man advantage, before it was over; they managed to collect another penalty of their own. By this time the Ironmen penalty kill was working like a well-oiled machine, and once again they successfully extinguished another Ice Jacks man advantage. Less than a minute after getting back to even strength the Ironmen stuck again with Steve Meadows collecting his first goal of the season. A minute later the Ironmen power play got their second chance on the night, however the results continued to be the same as their first attempt, and they were never really a threat.  The Ironmen may have struggled with the man advantage, but they had no problem scoring at even strength. Darcy Warren potted his team leading 6th goal of the season with 6:12 remaining in the second period. Warren has scored a goal in each of the first four Ironmen games this season. The Ironmen closed off the period killing off back-to-back penalties and took a 4-0 lead into the final frame. The Ice Jacks out shot the Ironmen 10-8 in the second period.

Things picked up where they left off for the Ironmen in the third period. The Ironmen penalty killers were dispatched for the seventh time, just two minutes into the final frame. Once again no damage was done and the Ironmen seemed very content with just locking things down for the third period. Midway through the final period, the Ironmen power play was given a chance at redemption with a two-man advantage, however once again they did not function well as a unit and were unable to produce anything. The Ironmen penalty killers were called on for the eighth and final time with 5:32 left on the clock and once again they shut down the Ice Jacks power play leaving the Ice Jacks 0 for 8 with the man advantage. The only question that remained was could the Ironmen preserve a shutout for their goaltender Gurinder Marwaha, who put together another very solid performance in the Ironmen nets. Well, unfortunately for the G-man and his teammates the answer was no. The Ironmen were caught sleeping at the wheel during a face-off late in the period, which resulted in the Ice Jacks spoiling the shutout and robbing Marwaha of his second shutout in four games. The Ice Jacks out shot the Ironmen 9-7 in the third period.

Although both teams were missing one third of their rosters, the Ironmen skated well all game. They did a great job in every aspect of the game well at even strength and shorthanded. The only downside for the Ironmen is their frequent trips to the penalty box.  Full marks to the Ironmen penalty killers in this contest, however another opponent may have done some serious damage to the Ironmen with eight opportunities on the power play. On the flip side, when the Ironmen do have the man advantage, they must slow things down and move the puck around more, they must not attempt to play every man for himself.

The Ironmen are idle now until next week when they take on the Storm on Sunday, September 25th at 10:45 am on the American rink.