The third tilt of the night was a game that had a good mix of I-Slam Originals and Future Prospects as Ihsan faced off against Yaqeen.

Returning to action after five weeks of rehab was I-Slam’s beloved Ahmad Mobin. After sustaining a lower body injury in week one, Mobin worked hard to return to the rink and hopefully guide his Ihsan teammates into the win column.

But they were playing against Yaqeen, a team that was humbled the week before and needed to return to a defence-first mentality to regain a share of top-spot in their division.  Between games and conveniently during the NHL trade deadline, GM Yasir Hussain lit up the whatsapp chats to make some important trades to acquire Yasser Habib, Taha Azhar, and Saajid Bhayat.  Additionally, Huzzy Panchbhaya cleared waivers to replace an injured Idrees Deen and help withcarry the offensive burden sitting on Big E’s (Emmad) shoulders.

The game started off at a slow pace with veterans on both benches looking for the opportune time to attack. 2 ½ minutes in, Bhayat took an unnecessary tripping penalty and was escorted to the sin bin. With one of the more dangerous PP lines in the league, Dr. Ijaz Chaudhry did what he does so often, and made his opponents pay with a one-timed laser passed Yasir Hussain.

Not to be dejected, Big E rallied the troops and applied pressure on Ihsan’s aging D-men. This forced a turnover that eventually ended up on Shoaib Bhatti’s stick and in one smooth motion he found top shelf for his first of the season.

Two minutes later, the twin towers made a big impact as the Khawaja Brothers connected to give Yaqeen a 2-1 lead.  Ihsan had a chance to tie the game as they were awarded another PP on an Illegal Equipment call (remember kids, if you break your stick, leave it on the floor and get a change). On the ensuing PK, Yasir Hussain was able to steer away Ihsan’s point shots and come out unscathed.

For the rest of the period, both teams traded chances with Ihsan having an edge in shots on goals but no further harm was done.

The second half started just as the first with conservative play but hard work on both ends of the rink.  Yaqeen was rewarded with a pair of goals from Shoaib Bhatti (2nd of night) and Asim Hussain. These came off valiant individual efforts by Fowad Alvi and Yasser Habib.  Ihsan, looking to get back on the scoreboard, applied consistent pressure and kept Yaqeen’s D-men on their heels.  Unfortunately, while doing so, Ahmed Chaudhry injured his hammy and was forced to coach the team for the rest of the game.

Things got interesting in the last few minutes of the game as Zakariyah Kalair potted his 4th of the season, assisted by none other than Dr. Chaudhry and Arsalan Mian.  Yaqeen had a high-sticking infraction with a minute left which opened the doors to an epic comeback, but that story had to be saved for another night as Yasir Hussain stood tall and sent Ihsan back to the drawing board.

Yaqeen play first placed Sabr next week as players face off against their former teammates.  Ihsan play Shukr in hopes of climbing into a playoff spot.