High level division finals
Two high-level NHL 21 6v6 duels were featured on RDS Video Games on Tuesday night as the RDS Video Games Cup Division Finals were held. The top two teams from each division competed in a two-of-three series to determine which would advance to the knockout round.
To watch the full division finals broadcast:
The highlights of the evening:
Here is a summary of the two series broadcast last night, that of the Midnight Express against the Beer Club and that of the Olympia against TheNightmare.
Midnight Express vs. Beer Club (Division 9 PS4)
The Midnight Express were undefeated before this series and had allowed just three goals since the start of the tournament. During the last duel between the two formations, they had also defeated the Beer Club by the count of 5-2. History was kind of repeated on Tuesday night during this division final (# 9) of the RDS Video Games Cup.
Against all expectations, however, it was the Beer Club who started the ball rolling with a goal from Big Karen on a shot from the right circle reception in 5 against 3, at the start of the second period. In the first 20, no real scoring chances were obtained on either side.
It didn’t take much more to wake forward Godz, who scored four unanswered goals to bring the score to 4-1 in favor of Midnight Express.
His teammate Freezxr added a few minutes later by grabbing a return from Godz at the mouth of the net to make it 5-1.
Big Frozen also scored with six seconds left in the second period to bring the scoreboard to 5-2.
Freezxr, however, wanted to imitate his teammate Godz and came back in the third period to put on his second and third goals of the match and thus score his hat trick. Final score: 7-2 Midnight Express
From the start of the second game of this two-of-three series, the Midnight Express tried to set the tone by physically asserting themselves. Strategy paid off and Godz picked up where he left off, scoring his fifth goal of the night (in two games), thanks to a brilliant Sniper’s effort in puck recovery in offensive territory.
But the Beer Club had not said their last word and were awarded a penalty shot moments later, which Big Frozen materialized with a right-left fake. Then, at the end of the period, Big Karen grabbed a rebound in the enclave to make it 2-1.
The second period nevertheless turned to the advantage of the Midnight Express. Godz redid his own with the best goal of the night, bringing the puck between his legs before pulling it into the back of Timo’s net. With his second of the game, Godz created a 2-2 tie.
Then, a few minutes later, a superb tic-tac-toe orchestrated by Snipe and Freezxr got the better of the Beer Club’s defense. The Midnight Express regained control of the game 3-2 with just over 13 minutes to go.
Freezxr will have finally scored his second of the meeting with nearly six minutes left in the game to nail the coffin of the Beer Club. Godz also completed his hat trick in an empty net.
Note that the meeting ended with a general fight when there was only 0.1 seconds to elapse on the dial. Final score: 3-2 Midnight Express
Series score: 2-0 Midnight Express
Olympia vs. TheNightmare (Division 4 Xbox One)
Five wins, no losses, 23 goals for and no goals against… This is what Olympia’s record looked like before the start of this series. Composed in particular of the players Gabseh, Mcfleuryyy and Rainz, the team was approached favorite – and by far – in order to win this series and thus to be classified for the playoffs.
Some even argued before the start of the matches that Olympia could get their hands on the top honors. In short, it was not an easy order for TheNightmare who lost 7-0 in the last duel against Olympia in this tournament.
Unsurprisingly, Olympia took control of the game from the start of the first match. With less than two minutes elapsed, Gabseh gave the lead to his team by completing a game from Mcfleuryyy to the left of the enclave.
Surprisingly, nearly five minutes later, Ooonnneeeee scored with a slap shot from the middle of the ice to tie the game. It was the first shot to beat goaltender Rainz since the start of the tournament, he who had shutouts on each of his starts.
Nonetheless, Olympia did not let themselves be shaken and dominated the remainder of the period with 3.54 min. Of puck possession time versus 20 seconds for TheNightmare, who were also limited to two shots on goal.
Solid since the start of the game in front of his team’s goal, Jo LeGris unfortunately once again suffered a goal at the start of the period while Rockxt gave Olympia a priority of one goal.
Then, after receiving a two-minute penalty for tripping an opposing striker, a series of scrambles between the players of TheNightmare occurred in defensive territory and Olympia jumped at the opportunity to bring the score to 3 -1.
This third net would push TheNightmare to use his downtime in an attempt to calm the storm, to no avail. From the following streak, Gabseh came to register his second of the game in a two-on-one descent by beating the goalkeeper with a backhand feint.
The rest of the game went the same as Gabseh and Mcfleuryyy both completed their hat trick in an 8-1 win over Olympia by the mercy rule in the third period. In total, TheNightmare was limited to four shots on goal and 1:36 on attack. Final score: 8-1 Olympia
One would have thought at a certain point that TheNightmare was going to force the holding of an ultimate match at the start of this second meeting. The red and black team held on defensively, Jo LeGris was solid in goals and we were the first to score thanks to a beautiful goal from Kadrillainen, who found himself alone behind the defenders of the Olympia.
But it would have been bad to know the Olympia. Indeed, it only took a goal from their star player Gabseh to put the wind in their sails. After equalizing the score, Olympia scored two more unanswered goals before allowing one and adding six more to force TheNightmare to retire in the third period.
Note the performance of the Olympia striker Rockxt, who stole the show in this match with four goals. Final score: 9-2 Olympia.
Series score: 2-0 Olympia
