Eurekas look to surprise Norsemen

Both the Norsemen and Eurekas were playing without their regular goalies as they nurse injuries, so they called in some backup.  The Norsemen brought in Craig Burgoyne, who played for them last season, and the Eurekas brought in Nick Comeau who has gone 14 games without a win, but played for Eurekas captain Shannon Farrell in the summer.

It was an early start for the Norsemen.  Josh Stevens fired a shot on goal and Comeau let out a big rebound to his right.  Making a full stretch to cover the rebound wouldn't be enough as Keaton Hicks was looking at a nearly empty net when he released the puck and scored his 3rd of the season.  2 minutes in and the Norsemen bench was looking boisterous.

The Norsemen looked like they might get the second goal of the game as Ryan DeWolfe was sprung for a breakaway, but Comeau made a huge blocker save on him and the puck went to the corner.  Jordan Kenny picked it up and went end to end up the right wing.  He fired a hard shot just past the ear of Burgoyne and into the top of the net to tie the game.

It had been a fairly even game with the Norsemen having the slight edge.  A Norsemen clearance seemed like a nothing play as Shannon Farrell skated back casually for the puck.  Stephen Warwick wasn't coming casually though and Comeau noticed, coming out to settle the puck down for Shannon near the faceoff dot.  Shannon grabbed the puck and skated behind the goal, but the puck skipped on her before she got there and Warwick had closed the gap the perfect amount.  He picked it up at the post and easily tucked it in the empty net to give the Norsemen the 2-1 lead.  Having played a lot of good games without good results, was it going to be another night that Comeau would take the loss and have it be no fault of his own?  Well we had another period for the Eurekas to try to remedy that.

Before we got to that whole other period, the Eurekas gave up a 2 on 0 to Josh Stevens and Pete Swistun.  Stevens passed to Swistun and with a lot of space to shoot the puck, he found the space in the wrong netting, the netting over the glass.  This was a crucial miss as the Norsemen took a 2-1 lead into the second rather than a 3-1 lead.

Mid way through the second period, the Eurekas took their second penalty of the night as Glen Macadougall sat for two for slashing.  The Eurekas nearly scored when the penalty was called, but instead the faceoff came all the way down.

Jordan Kenny and Tyler Carr were PK machines for the Eurekas and they got out of their end and created chances in the Norsemen zone, Carr nearly scored and made the responsible decision to go to the bench as Kenny picked up where he left off.  Kenny got loose and fired a shot from the right of Burgoyne.  The puck trickled through and was rolling towards the goal line.  Kenny jumped in and poked it over the line for a shorty to tie the game.

With 5 to go in the game, there was a mad scramble in Comeau's crease, the Norsemen bench even cheered thinking they scored but instead the puck was cleared and Kenny was off to the races again.  He came down in much the same way as his first goal and shot the puck.  He beat Burgoyne past the opposite ear but his shot was a couple inches higher this time and it clanged off the crossbar.  A shootout was looming.

Kenny was feeling it and on his next shift, with less than 4 to play, he found Zack Walsh cutting to the net and he made the pass.  Walsh got it and quickly fired it along the ice, through the five hole and the Eurekas  had the lead, unfamiliar territory so far this year.

Blake Isenor called Burgoyne to the bench and his Norsemen went to work.  The Eurekas knew full well that this was an important final 90 seconds and they battled.  Each puck was going to be need to be earned.  They made a couple clearing attempts on the empty goal but couldn't get it in and in the final 5 seconds the Norsemen found the puck in the slot.  Eurekas newcomer Ethan Carter made a big shot block in the slot, and then immediately after, Ryan Kinley made one as well as he slid out, and as the horn sounded the Eurekas cheered, celebrating their first regulation win, and Comeau's first win in a long time.  It was smiles all around in Eureka land.

The Norsemen had a chance to tie the Aurora with a win, but instead will remain in 4th, 3 points back of them, and 3 up on the Lions.  The Eurekas stay in 8th but are just 2 points behind Nick Comeau's regular team, the Tigers.

There are no games tonight so we will be back in action again on Tuesday as the Lions play the Norsemen and the Osprey take on the Aurora.