The Leopard Cats and the Clouded Leopards picked up wins as the Taipei Ice Hockey League held its inauguration ceremony on Sunday night.
The Leopard Cats outscored the Buffalos in all but the third period to win 6-2, with Ryan Lang scoring five goals and Cullen Revel taking one. Dennis Chou and Kevin Chen had goals for the Buffalos.
The second match of the night, between the Clouded Leopards and the Black Bears, was much closer. It was 18 minutes into the first period before the first goal, when the Bears’ Winston Lee scored with a lofted shot from long range.
Photo courtesy of Davis Li
Steven Clark doubled the lead, retrieving the puck from behind the goal and scoring high past Clouded Leopards goaltender Beck Keui’s right shoulder.
Bears goaltender Stewart Glen was put to the test, stopping a long-range shot and then reacting quickly to a one-timed shot from the rebound, but Jack Weng breached his defense soon afterward, beating Glen on his left for 2-1.
The Clouded Leopards’ Bongo Chen equalized after a sustained period of pressure during which each clearance by the Bears seemed to find an opposition stick. Chen’s shot from close to the blue line took two deflections before passing Glen.
The Bears’ Mal Turner scored with 18 seconds remaining in the second period to restore a one-goal advantage.
The third period saw the Bears frequently play a man short as the penalties flowed. Down two players at one point, Turner still managed a breakaway, but was denied by Kuei.
Weng scored his second from a breakaway of his own shortly afterward to equalize, and then Sam Wu scored the winner.
Weng was denied a third on another breakaway with about a minute remaining.
The Bears pulled their goaltender, but amid a goalmouth scramble, the Clouded Leopards protected their lead.
“We won, but we didn’t play very well. Our passing needs to improve,” said Weng, a Taipei Physical Education College student.
The Clouded Leopards moved to second on the table on goal difference behind their opponents, with the Cats in third.
Earlier, Yuan Shou-fang, Competitive Sports division head for the Taipei Department of Sports, spoke at the league’s official opening.
“It’s so late, but everyone is out watching the games tonight,” he said. “We hope this competition, and Taiwanese hockey in general, can grow through the efforts of the organizers and players.”
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