Tickets are Booked for the Flights to Round 2

Our first game 3 of the 2025/26 Nomad Hockey League playoffs was upon us as the Osprey looked to win their second straight elimination game.  The Evergreens conversely were looking to complete the biggest upset in league history.  When Matt Pare of the Osprey took a first minute tripping penalty, that door seemed like it was opening for the Evergreens.

The Osprey however had other plans.  Josh Stevens stripped the puck off the Evergeens in their own zone and had a chance alone on Game 1 star Jamie Wutke, and Wutke stopped Josh as he tried to jam the puck in five hole.

In the first 5 minutes of the game, we saw little in the way of scoring chances.  Isaac Pelley got the puck behind his own net and saw Matt Simpson streaking so he went for the stretch pass.  Luke Hawrylak got a piece of it and Simpson had to adjust to take the pass between his legs, but he was still off on a breakaway with Luke in pursuit.  As he got to the net he cut hard to the backhand to tuck in the opening goal of the game.

Simpson nearly setup Josh Stevens on the back door just 10 seconds later but the past was a touch too far ahead of Stevens.  The Osprey were feeling it.  They had momentum and were winning the puck battles.  The only shots the Evergreens were getting were from the outside, except for when Silas tried to bank one off of Nick Stryniak’s leg from behind the goal line.  

Despite getting plenty of chances, the Osprey only had one goal to show for their efforts after the first period.  It didn’t matter that the Evergreens only had 7 shots on goal, they were one shot away from tying it up.

Early in the 2nd, Josh Stevens made a pass to Isaac Pelley as he pinched from the point and he roofed it off the back bar.  The 2-0 lead looked like a tough hill to climb for the Evergreens, but their bench remained positive.

A bad breakout pass from Matt Simpson was right on Cobee MacNaughton’s tape and his shot was labelled for the back of the net, but it hit his own teammate’s shin as he went to the net instead.

3 minutes after Pelley made it 2-0, another D pinched in and roofed their shot.  No, not Mya, I know you assumed it, but it was *checks notes*, Michael Bourgeois?  Yup, Michael Bourgeois took the pass from Keaton Hicks and the snipe made it 3-0 Osprey with 11:28 to go.

Derek Hale took a tripping penalty and the Osprey were sent to the PP.  Luke Hawrylak tried to spring short Luke (Levangie) but the pass was just a touch too far and went down to Nick Stryniak behind the Osprey net.  Weeeellllll, Nick only had 8 shots on him at this point so we can only imagine he was busy day dreaming as he completely missed the puck and it came off the end boards and right to Little Luke in front.  Levangie popped in his easiest goal of the year to break the shutout.

With 8:07 left, Josh Stevens finished off a passing play to make it 4-1.  Despite their best efforts, the Evergreens couldn’t muster anything in the way of offense, only generating 12 shots on goal, while the Osprey had multiples of that on their goal.

The fairytale run over for the Evergreens, they will now start their pre season training for summer, as registration opens for that tomorrow.  The Osprey await their round 2 opponent.