Osprey Make Brooms With Fallen Trees

The Evergreens were on the brink of defeat Wednesday night as they suited up for their second game in 2 days vs the Osprey in their quest for the Nomad Cup.  The pattern of sweeps is something the Osprey were looking to continue while the Evergreens were trying to reverse.

 

Kurt Thibault was all alone in the slot when he got the puck just 15 seconds into the game with a chance to get the Osprey hopping, but his heavy shot missed wide to the blocker side.  The Osprey were starting strong and on his second shift, Matt Ryder got the puck and dangled around Jonny Bamford, went in alone on Aidan Durnford and faked the shot to the blocker side, cut over on the backhand and was denied.  He would try a similar move on his next shift but would miss the net this time around.

 

Shots were 5-1 for the Osprey early, but the Evergreens clawed back, getting some chances of their own.  Landon Miron got the puck behind the Osprey goal and fed it in front to James Harrison who was double teamed.  Harrison got a shot on goal while another Evergreens player crashed the net.  The puck then popped out to Harrison but he fanned on the backhand, the best scoring chance to that point squandered.

 

I drew LeFrank made a great diving play for the Evergreens to knock the puck away from Glenn Boyce and towards the goal where Carter Nickerson was stationed.  Madness ensued and ended with LeFrank on his knees getting a decent shot on goal, but without 7:30 left in the first, we were still looking at zeros on the scoreboard.

 

Pressure was mostly in the Evergreens zone as the Osprey controlled the game, but Miron had a big steal with 4:40 to go.  He skated in past an Osprey defenceman, then made a deke on Matt Baird, using his long reach to go around the goaltender, but the open space to the left of Baird kept getting smaller and Landon couldn’t get it shovelled in.

 

In game 1, Kurt Thibault scored a nice goal as he came down the left wing, and last night he was going through the same motions.  He came down the left wing, fired a hard shot, and this time Durnford was ready, stopping the shot with ease.  Getting into the final minute now, Matt Ryder deked everyone on the ice twice then faked the shot, passing the puck back door to Matt Pellerin.  The gaping net was just waiting for the biscuit, a little tap and the red light goes on, and it’s one nothing for the Osprey, but Pellerin can’t do it, he can’t score the easy one, and that’s would prove costly.

 

Silas “Big Crunch” Bonnell would use go into top flight mode just 20 seconds later, reaching high speeds while collecting the puck and zooming past the Osprey defence like they were flightless birds.  Big Crunch was alone on Matt Baird and he fired the shot to the glove side, right underneath the mitt, and the Evergreens took the lead with the late first period goal, just 28 seconds left to play.

 

Only 14 shots managed to hit the net in the first period with the Osprey having the slight 8-6 edge, but it wasn’t for lack of trying.  There were plenty of blocked shots in the opening frame, including one by Jonny Bamford where he stepped out of the way so as to not get hit by Branden Rankin, but Rankin’s shot was going to far wide that players on rink B could be heard shouting “watch out”.

 

Brock Bethune had a very early chance to start the second period, looking much like Bonnell when he scored, he came up the right wing and Baird was off his angle, a large open area of net was available, but Brock put it just over the crossbar.

 

A couple minutes later, Tyler Selvet was about a foot away from reaching a pass that would have sent him in on a breakaway, but instead it went into the Osprey zone and out of danger as Baird played it out of harms way.

 

This game was tied and with two solid goalies facing some strong offensive players, it was possible to see a flash of brilliance at either end of the ice on any given shift.  The next big chance didn’t come until 11:25 of the period when Taylor McKay was planted in the crease as a shot came in.  He got his stick on it and tipped it toward the goal, but somehow, even though he was 2’ from the goal line, he sent the puck from along the ice, to over the crossbar.

 

With 9:30 to play, the final 10 minutes of regulation, Matt Ryder took a shot from the slot and it went off the crossbar, or maybe it hit the back bar according to some, but it was no goal and play continued to the corner.  Durnford made a diving save with his stick as the Osprey tried to catch him out of position.

 

The next shift was chaos, shots coming in from all directions, one from Bobby Sacre came in found a hole and was sitting on the goal line momentarily before it was cleared into the mass of bodies collecting around the crease.  Matt Pellerin was looking for a better result than his earlier failure and from his knees, he backhanded the puck, no look, towards the net.  Somehow, this time he was successful!  The Osprey took the lead with 8:18 to go.  Plenty of time for a goal, but also enough time to play lock down defence.  The Osprey took the latter plan and went to work.

 

Evergreens players couldn’t find a way through the Osprey and as we got into pull your goalie territory, the Osprey forecheck kept the puck out of their zone and Durnford in the net.  With 30 seconds left, Matt Ryder won a faceoff and immediately shot the puck, Durnford made a great pad save to keep hope alive.  That was until the final 10 seconds when Ryder stole a puck at the blue line, took a heavy slash from Harrison and looked back with a “what the fuck?” Expression, and then proceeded to go in alone and casually pop in his second of the night with 3.4 seconds on the clock to lock in the clean sweep.

 

It’s on e again a waiting game for the Osprey while they see if the Aurora or Norsemen will be challenging them for the Nomad Cup.  The Osprey have made the finals in every winter so far, Nathan Bessey will be seeking his second championship in as many seasons as he led the Wolverines to the ship last summer as well.