Aurora look to light up the Greyhounds

The Aurora and Greyhounds were playing their game 3 on Monday night and the Greyhounds had a special guest for the game.  Greg Delano, on his second Nomad season, making his first playoff appearance, the Jeff Skinner of Nomad players.

 

It was the Aurora looking good early, but not the shot by Lacey in the slot, that was a weak ass shot.  All alone and he just lays in a crusty little wrister that Logan stopped with his eyes closed.  Lacey learned from his mistake though, as he came in with a better shot 30 seconds later, one which Logan had to make a good toe save in to keep it level early.  To finish his 3 minute shift off, Lacey got another good shot on goal which Logan stopped five hole.  Let the record show that all 3 of his first 3 shots were on net.  

 

In the Aurora zone, Kyle Gouthro stopped a clearance and then did a spinorama as Lacey tried to check him.  Getting away from Lacey, Kyle took 2 strides towards the net and fired low, trying to get the far side of the net, but he missed, the puck rimming around to Connor LeBlanc.  Connor’s shot in net was redirected and the save made by Nick Stryniak.  Then cleared back to Connor and repeat the process.

 

Minutes went by with no chances near the net, then Matt Ryder finally got through.  He had no lane to the net to his left, so as he got to the crease, he made a move to his backhand and Logan made the kick save as the puck was heading to the low corner of the net.  Bobby Sacre made a pass out from behind the net.  Andrey Gromov fanned on the shot and the puck went to Matt Ryder.  Logan once again needed a good kick save, this time the rebound went to Sacre who was heading back to his point.  He went to spin and shoot at the open net, but he fanned on it, so we still remained even at zero.

 

Nathan Bessey entered the zone into some traffic.  The puck bounced around and Steve Power put a weak shot just wide of the net, right back to Bessey.  He collected the puck and beat Logan to the post, putting the puck off the netminder’s skate and in to give the Aurora the first lead of the game with just 2:38 left in the first.

 

In the final minute of the period, a harmless looking play changed the game’s whole dynamic.  Bobby Sacre was attempting a rush when he blew a tire and slowly slid into Kyle Ervin.  Erv’s leg ended up caught under himself as he went down and he felt serious pain in his hamstring.  After sending a couple minutes on the ice, he was helped to the bench by Bobby and Lacey.  He took a spot on the bench that he would occupy the rest of the game.

 

With Erv sitting on the bench watching helplessly, Nathan Bessey was speeding down the ice to track down a Connor MacPherson pass to the point that missed its mark by a mile.  Nathan caught up to the puck just before hitting the Greyhounds blueline.  He went forehand - backhand, end boards.  His shot was stopped by Logan and the collision knocked the net off and Bessey on the ice puts the puck out to Steve Power who shot it into the empty net as the whistles blew.  

 

On to the second with the Aurora 17 minutes from eliminating the Greyhounds, and keeping their foot on the gas with a couple of scoring chances that fell flat in the end.  It was the Greyhounds turn to put on some pressure next.  Greg Delano flipped a puck towards the net and went to retrieve it himself, but it went to Stryniak.  Nick went to knock it to the corner but put it instead on Greg’s stick.  He shot immediately and Stryniak had to close his five hole quickly to keep the shutout intact.

 

This was around when the penalty troubles began.  First were the Aurora going to the box.  However, Tyler Selvet poked the puck off a Greyhound stick at the blueline, and alone with a David Lacey, they found themselves going 2 on 0 up the ice, Connor a LeBlanc in pursuit.  Lacey had the puck and skated.  The Aurora bench all yelled “pass it, Tyler’s faster than you!”.  Lacey held the puck.  He got over the blueline and finally went to pass.  LeBlanc was going full speed and dove, knocking the pass away with his stick to the cheers of the Greyhounds faithful.

 

The play ended up moving back to the Aurora zone, Kyle Gouthro carrying the mail.  He made a deke at the last D and got through but with no space he circled the net.  Tyler Selvet was there as Gouthro was going down and he got the penalty.  Time for a 5 on 3 for the Dogs.

 

After missing the net with a few shots, Greg Delano got the one timer opportunity in the slot, and he ripped it… over the net.  The rebound came to Brock Bethune at the side of the net and he got a backhand in it as he was about to be checked.  He chipped it into the crease, just missing Stryniak’s foot as he moved back into position.  Then Bryan Gillis fanned in a one timer at the side of the net.  The Aurora managed to clear the clock of penalties and were looking to move back into offensive mode, but they found themselves going to the box once more.

 

The Greyhounds, despite their best efforts, couldn’t manage a shot on goal on the power play.  They kept throwing pucks towards the net though.  Noah Joncas out a shot in that deflected off Bryan Gillis’ stick, then foot and right to Drew LeFrank.  Drew shot it from the slot with Sacre sliding to make a block.  The shot went off the hip of Stryniak and then the shaft of his stick as the puck was going wide, and it redirected right into the net.  9:30 left in the second and we had ourselves a tie game.

 

A minute later, Delano shot from the right wing side.  His shot went off the base of the net and Stryniak looked right, immediately realizing he was wrong, he tried to protect the post.  Greg saw the look to the wrong side and fired the puck he picked off the wall and it went right under the goalie, as the leading goal was avoided.

 

Then the Aurora got a power play chance.  Nathan Bessey drew the penalty and then got a rebound and shanked it with an open net, the puck popping up into the air.  He then batted the puck through the crease between Logan and the net, and out the other side as he looked to the rafters in disbelief.

 

With just under 3 minutes left, Matt Ryder took a slapshot from far out.  Bobby Sacre was rushing to the net through a check and while falling he chipped a shot off the corner crossbar and out.  The stunned Aurora could only watch in disbelief as Greg Delano stuck to cherry pick position and took a pass from a breakaway.  Bobby Sacre was the first man back to track him down but was too late to stop the shot, but Nick stopped it, and the rebound was sent wide but the Greyhounds got it back, Mat McLeod throwing a shot in goal which Brock Bethune nearly scored on with his redirection.

 

Time was ticking down and we hit the final minute of play.  With Matt Ryder in the crease, Bobby Sacre got the puck at the point and he ripped a shot as Kyle Gouthr skated out to stop him.  Gouthro made a huge block, then hobbled to the bench as the puck hit his ankle.  With just 35 seconds left in a tie game, the Greyhounds were found guilty of slashing.  A late power play for the Aurora, and a big face off in the Greyhounds zone.  The dogs win it and clear the zone.  As the Aurora come back into the zone, Connor LeBlanc makes a poor decision and lays the body on Bobby Sacre, leading to some pushing and shoving and some harsh words.  It also led to some penalties as LeBlanc went to the box along with Sacre and Matt Ryder with just seconds left to play in the game.

 

Players in the box during a shootout cannot shoot in the shootout, so this was very bad news for the Aurora.  As the higher seeded team, they chose to shoot second in the shootout.  The Greyhounds sent Brock Bethune.  Brock curls out to the right and carves into the middle, going low, he’s denied.  

The Aurora sent Chris Ryder.  Chris came in and went over the glove of Logan to put the Aurora up by a goal.

Greg Delano’s turn,  he deked and went low around Stryniak, but Nick got his leg across to stop him

Nathan Bessey makes the same move he made earlier in the game, going to his backhand.  This time instead of falling into the goalie and taking the net off its moorings, he just missed wide instead.

It was yo to Mat McLeod to keep this season alive.  He bobbled the puck as he crossed the blueline but kept moving forward.  He also tried shooting low on Stryniak, but Nick was equal to the task and the Aurora are going to round 2!

 

Game goes tonight at 10:00 at the RBC Centre as they face the Norsemen.  The Osprey and Tigers will be the other series and will play at 10:15.