Aurora Look Poised for a Deep Playoff Run

Following a back and forth game 1, the Aurora came out on top and were seeking the third sweep of the week as they faced the Tigers in game 2 of their best of 3 series.  The first opportunity took almost 2 minutes and it went to the Aurora.  Travis Hatcher knocked down a puck in front and got a shot on Nick Comeau, which he stopped, but the tone was being set; the Aurora were going to be putting everything on goal.

 

Just 30 seconds later, the first strike:  David Lacey made a nice pass from behind the goal to Dylan Kugler in front.  Kugler waited a moment to shoot, wanting to avoid hurting teammate Max Dewey who was between him and the net with his back to Kugler.  Then the shot came, low and hard, and it went along the ice, clanging off the back of the goal.  1-0 Aurora 2:25 in.

 

The Tigers caught an early break on the next shift when the Aurora threw a puck around the boards in their own zone.  The puck careened off the door and into the circle adjacent to it.  The Tigers collected the puck with a clear line to the net and the shot was fired, but Logan MacLean was ready and shut it down.  The Aurora then pressed more, putting another 5 shots on goal in the next minute, but Nick Comeau kept shutting them down.  Dan Keays plucked the puck from a mess of players and spotted Cobee McNaughton streaking up the middle and made the pass.  Cobee managed a partial breakaway as he was being checked from behind by Nick Collins.  The shot was good, but MacLean was better as he blockered it down and out of the way.

 

Matt Simpson skated up the left wing with 2 teammates alongside him.  He looked them off and surprised Comeau as he went short side, beating the goaltender for the 2-0 lead.  Noah Joncas took a point shot that hit the post just 30 seconds later as the Aurora took control of the game.

 

It took another odd play for the the Tigers to get a good chance.  Mat McLeod tripped in his own end, losing the puck right to Dan Keays with speed.  Keays came in and once again Logan made the save, but then the rebound went back to Keays, denied by Logan.

 

The Aurora looked to be their own worst enemy as Kyle Ervin scared his teammates when he got the puck behind his own goal and tried a stretch pass by going through his own crease, but it went off his D partner’s skate.  Luckily for him, no harm came of it.

 

With 2:50 left in the period, after multiple back to back scoring chances, Brandon Crowell made a pass to Chris Stickings alone in the slot.  Stickings took a moment to compose himself as Tigers neared, then he wristed it into the top of the net, past the glove of a shell shocked Comeau.  Then a giveaway behind his own goal popped out to the front of Comeau with Matt Simpson in the right place at the right time, and he jammed it in with a Josh Beaudreau broken stick on the ice watching it all happen.  Josh broke two sticks on the night, including one at the end of warmups as he leaned on it to get up from his stretches, possibly the hockey gods giving him a sign of the night to come.

 

The first period would wrap up with the score 4-0 for the Aurora, but couldn’t have been 5-0 if it weren’t for Comeau’s windmill save with under 15 seconds to go.  

 

The second period was just as dominant for the Aurora.  To cap off a 2 minute 47 second shift to start the period, Brandon Crowell scored a cheeky goal after deking past the last defenceman, cutting to the net and sliding the puck back across the grain to make it 5-0.  Noah Joncas would then score on a wrister, and Crowell would catch Comeau off guard to make it 7-0.

 

As the game hit 7 minutes remaining, the Tigers had one of their best chances of the game but Dan Keays missed the net, the puck going off the back boards.  The puck bounced to Zack Harrison who was lurking at the other side of the net.  He banged home the Tigers redemption goal as they were able to ruin the shutout, something the Lions failed to do in their loss the night before.

 

Then the Norm Gallant, the Stephenville Steamer, rolled up with a powerful rush up the right wing.  Looking for the coast to coast goal, Noah Joncas pushed him off to the side, so he went full David Lacey.  No, he didn’t fire a clapper off the glass, rimming around for a breakaway in the opposite direction, no, he went for the wraparound and failed.  The puck then did go back up ice to the Tigers end, and Norm got back, getting the puck and going coast to coast once more.  This time he took a shot as he entered the zone, missing the net, but inspiring his team all the same, just a bit too late.

 

With 5 minutes left to play, Max Dewey was rushing in and as he fired a shot on goal, he went down hard and then into the end boards.  He was slow to get up and would leave the game.  His team would carry the 7-1 scoreline to the finish line with Dewey in the room.

 

Norm Gallant’s Tigers are the third to be sent home while the Aurora await tonight’s result to know their schedule for round 2.  The Osprey and Eurekas play game 2 of their series at 9:45 at the RBC centre.