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Absolutely Sensational Hockey
Double OT required
It took a weird deflection off the middle part of Ethan MacVicar’s stick or arm with 8:49 left in the second overtime period of sudden death to give the South Shore Lumberjacks a 3-2 win Saturday night in Bridgewater. With the win, the Lumberjacks took a 2-0 lead in their Fred Fox Divisional Final with the Capstone Colts, as they were coming off a 3-1 win in Friday night’s opening game of the series.
For a team that struggled to win 14 games over a five month period during the regular season, a torch has somehow been lit under their hockey pants and the Lumberjacks have now won six games in a mere five weeks, eliminating East Hants in five games in the opening round of the playoffs before winning the first two games in the Fox Final.
The Colts were trailing 2-1 in the final minute of regulation after Jacob Trioni-Willis skated hard through the Lumberjacks defence and rang his shot of the goalpost but with the two teams exemplifying exceptional hard skating and aggressive play, the Colts kept the puck in the Lumberjacks zone and Brady Wamboldt with a shot from the point managed to beat Keegan Greencorn with 20 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 2-2 and send it to overtime.
The first overtime which in Junior Hockey goes 10 minutes saw end to end action with unbelievable chances at both ends. With 6:33 to play in the first OT, the Lumberjacks Daniel Kline was hauled down as he went in on a clear break and was awarded a penalty shot. With the Lumberjacks on the brink of winning, Kline zeroed in on Conar Brace in the Colts net only to have brace turn him away with a save and the game continued. As the first overtime continued, Josh Hollett of the Colts was robbed blind by Greencorn directly in front of the Lumberjacks net.
Cody Garcin, Connor Stewart and Jacob Trioni-Willis all played exceptional hockey for the Colts despite their loss.
Before the first OT concluded Lumberjacks veteran defensemen Aaron Lane took a shot from the point that rang off the mask of Conar Brace. The South Shore outshot the Colts 7-6 in the first overtime and were up 38-32 in shots after four period.
In the second overtime, Trioni-Willis went in 3/4 alone but he could not get a great shot off as Greencorn met him head on. With 16:33 to play in the second overtime, Angus Berry took a 2 minute interference penalty for the Lumberjacks. The Colts then rumbled and Luke McPhee rang a shot off the crossbar on the first of three superb scoring chances the Colts had to end the game. Then with 16 seconds left on the Colts power-play, the Cooper Puma took a high-sticking minor resulting in a power-play for the Lumberjacks of 1:44 once Berry’s penalty was complete. Berry after coming from the penalty box could not connect on a clear break on Brace. Despite the Lumberjacks win, the Colts did outshoot the South Shore 8-2 in the second overtime giving both clubs 40 shots apiece on the game.
Earlier in regulation to open the game, Evan Amirault who played a strong game for the Lumberjacks had a break in the opening minutes but overstated the puck as the Colts were assessed their first penalty of the contest after only 1:03 had been played. Brandon Rideout then chopped the puck off of Connor Stewart’s stick allowing him to move in on Brace but he could not get a great shot off. Nick Morin of the Colts had a chance when he swung around the South Shore net only to miss and then be given a second chance only to miss on a backhanded shot.
The first period continued with a number of good scoring chances but Amirault of the Lumberjacks missed a wide-open net as he was not able to properly get the puck on his stick after taking a pass from Angus Berry. Brennan Coleman for the South Shore and Liam Andrews also missed scoring opportunities. With five seconds left in the opening frame, Joe Osborne took a tripping penalty for the South Shore meaning the Colts would start the second period with a power-play for 1:55.
At the beginning of the second, the Colts with 23 seconds left in Oborne’s penalty connected on a point shot from Cody Garcin to put the Colts up 1-0. It only took the Lumberjacks 19 seconds to tie the game as defenceman Kyler Lohnes went in deep to the right of Brace and he was standing on the doorstep to put one past Brace’s right-side to tie the game at 1-1. On one-power play in the second, the Lumberjacks were crawling all over the Colts.
With 5:34 to play in the second period and a large contingent of players all around the Colts net, Evan Amirault scored as he swung around and beat Brace clean to put the South Shore in front 2-1. The penalties kept coming as the Colts took one for cross-checking. Kline missed in close for the Lumberjacks on the power-play as did Xavier Coggins while killing the penalty off for the Colts.
Just as he did at the end of the first period, Joe Osborne took a penalty with five seconds left in the second to give the Colts a power-play for the opening 1:55 of the third period.
The Colts started the third period all over the South Shore net, outshooting them 8-0 but failed to beat Greencorn. The Lumberjacks then roared back and on a power-play had four consecutive shots and Brace was brilliant including one dynamite pad save. The Lumberjacks came back to outshoot the Colts 7-2 during the stretch of play.
This writer can’t say it enough, one outstanding game and the Lumberjacks are now two wins away from competing for a Nova Scotia Provincial Championship once again this year. Game 3 in this series will go Friday night in Shearwater at 7:30 p.m. and Game 4 Saturday March 22 in Bridgewater at 7:00 p.m.