The Riveters’ 6-5 OT win over the Connecticut Whale was everything you want in a hockey game, if you enjoy having your heart in your mouth, your hands in the air, and, for four bad opening minutes, possibly, your lunch in your lap. I hadn’t been to Newark in a while, so when the game veered from garbage fire to Rocky-style triumph, I wondered if it was me.
It wasn’t. It was the Riveters. Damn, I love this team. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Remember the lunch in the lap? That’s what I was afraid of when the Whale scored three — yes, THREE — goals in the first THREE minutes of the first period.