Igor Orlov reaches 300 points by setting the table in an overtime loss

The scoreboard ended 7-6 for South Dallas Scum, in overtime, and most readers will remember the goals against. Inside that loss sits a different kind of number. Igor Orlov reached 300 points this title in this game. He got there by setting up goals for others.

For the Boogeymen, the game asked a hard question. The skaters put 31 shots on net, unusually high. They completed 80% of their passes, also unusually high. They threw 85 hits, another unusually high count. Six goals looked like enough, and it was not. Jonas Wagner saved 69.6% of the shots he faced, a meltdown in net. It was the 3rd loss of the night.

Igor Orlov is the anchor of this story. He set up 3 goals as a forward. His 6s average is 1 assist over 70 games, so this game was big for him. His 3 points were a typical total by his own numbers, so the size of the line did not change. What changed was its shape: all three came as assists.

Then there is the contact. Igor Orlov threw 24 hits, big for him against a 6s average of 6.3. Silky threw 22, a career high in 6s. Raz threw 15, a career high in 6s too. Igor Orlov's 24 were the most of any teammate in the game, so the forward who fed the scorers also took on more of the contact than anyone beside him.

The milestone itself has weight. Igor Orlov has 176 goals and 124 assists this title. He has played 123 games to get there. Those totals describe a finisher first. In this game the other side of his game came forward, and the milestone landed on the pass.

The finishing came from others. Raz scored 3 goals against a 6s average of 1.2. His 5 points were big for him as well. Z Wang scored 2, a career high in 6s. His 4 points were a career high in 6s too. Beev, on defence, added 3 points against an average of 0.9.

There is history behind the way this group plays. Silky and Igor Orlov are 64-12-6 when they play together. A record like that is not built in one night, and one loss in overtime does not undo it.

The skaters did enough on most counts and still came away without the win. Igor Orlov's line offers the Boogeymen an answer. A forward who can reach 300 points in a game of assists and contact is a forward a team can trust, whatever happens in the net.