Game 1 Drama

The finals have arrived and 2 teams have won 4 games to get here.  The Tigers and the Aurora.  The 5th seeded Tigers made it by beating the Lions in 2 straight extended shootouts, and then they didn’t allow a goal in 3 periods en route to a sweep of the first place Osprey.  Undefeated, they were hoping to go for 6 straight W’s.  The Aurora’s path took them on a very similar path.  After dropping their first playoff game to the Greyhounds, they went to 8 shooters in their second game where the won in the shootout, then won game 3 in another shootout.  In round 2 they swept the Norsemen, meaning they are also on a 4 game winning streak.

 

Right off the opening draw, Bobby Sacre skated in and fired a shot that Josh McCarther made a blocker save on.  With Sacre coming to the net, the puck popped up in the air, and McCarther had to bat it out of the air and to the corner to avoid a scoring chance.  Just 32 seconds into the game, Brandon Crowell took a penalty which sent the potent Aurora power play into action.  

 

Pulling the Gallant no-move, the seas parted for Sacre at the point and he walked into a clapper with a ton of space.  Matt Ryder tipped it, forcing McCarther to make a pad save, a save which redirected to David Lacey at the other side.  David wound up and let loose a slapshot of his own, but Josh made it over in time to stop the scoring chance.  Lacey would get the puck in the high slot a minute later and just fire a shot toward the net without even looking, and since it was through a crowd, McCarther didn’t see it until it was too late.  The puck beat him, but rung off the post and into the corner. 

 

As the penalty expired, Ron Beaton had a good chance to the right of Nick Stryniak as Mike Gilmore toe picked and sailed though the slot.  Beaton’s shot was easily handled by Stryniak however, and came to nothing.  Then Brandon Crowell went for an end to end rush, weaving through 4 out of 5 Aurora players.  He got close to the net and fired a hard shot, but Stryniak shut him down and cleared the puck to the corner.

 

Bobby Sacre gave himself a heart attack as he was passed the puck in the corner and saw Tyler Selvet all alone on the far side of the ice.  His pass went to Brandon Crowell, not a teammate.  Crowell was right in the slot and chose a shot over a deke and Stryniak swallowed it up as Sacre relaxed.

 

Matt Ryder finally got a chance to wind up with the puck on his stick and he came through the neutral zone uncontested and with 3 Tigers converging on him, he shot a wrister from the ringette line and beat McCarther’s blocker clean to put the Aurora up 1-0 5:21 into the first period.  The Aurora were the better team early on, and the score was finally reflecting that.

 

Crowell, who had taken the Tigers penalty, drew a penalty with just under 9 to play in the first, giving the Tigers a chance to tie the game up.  It did not go as they hoped.  They managed a couple of outside shots on goal only, and the Aurora went back to 5 skaters and nearly scored right away as a Sacre shot just missed the goal, and then Matt Ryder just missed a chance as well.

 

Selvet made a pass to the point which Ron Beaton picked off and he flew up the left wing, going inside/outside on Sacre and getting around him.  Ron’s shot was to the far side of Stryniak and beat him, but not the post.  Then Glenn Boyce missed the net glove side twice on that shift as the Tigers remained goalless.  They did maintain pressure as they had their best shift of the game, but that didn’t get them on the board.

 

A faceoff in the Tigers zone and a Tyler Selvet shot off a stick needed a good blocker save to keep it from being 2-0 for the Aurora.  The Tigers took the rebound and went up ice.  With Sacre sliding to block the shot, Ron Beaton hit the post, leaving only the crossbar for him to hit.  These teams were battling for every puck, keeping as many chances from happening as possible, and simply believing they could win this game.

 

After 1 period, the Aurora lead 1-0 while outshooting the Tigers 14-10.

 

Early in the second the Aurora were taking it to the Tigers but a misplay at the line by Mike Gilmore put the puck into the middle of the neutral zone and Brandon Crowell was heading for it with speed.  Gilmore in a moment of desperation, knew he wouldn’t catch Crowell so he dove.  Miss and it’s a breakaway from centre.  He did not miss.  Gilmore got just enough puck to knock it farther ahead, and Nick Stryniak came out to shoot it away and avoid facing the breakaway.

 

Pressuring Glenn Boyce in his own end, Chris Ryder stole the puck and cut out to the front of the net, taking a backhander as he avoided the poke check he shot but too high.  The Aurora were getting shots but they were all missing the net.  The Tigers however weren’t getting any shots on net or otherwise until they had a flurry of 3 shots that were all stopped.  The play moved to the corner and Lacey dropped his stick and raised his arms to say he didn’t do anything as his stick got caught under Kurt Thibault’s arm.  No referee arm went however and Thibault was able to take the puck and zip to the net.  He deked around Stryniak but before he could shoot, Brandon Marsh made a big stick lift to stop him.  The Tigers gained a little courage from the play.

 

Corey Crewe took a shot from the point which Stryniak got enough of to knock it into the air.  Dan Keays say it and waited for the puck to drop before he swung and hit a line drive into the back of the net to tie the game at 1.  Aurora players protested that it was a high stick, but video replays showed the stick to be closer to his waist than his shoulder.  Reminder that the rule is not that the stick remain below the crossbar, but below the height of the player hitting the puck, standing up.  (We went over this in an earlier article as well, but is worth repeating as we all watch the NHL and assume it’s that rule).

 

Again, the Aurora turned up the heat, pushing the Tigers back.  Matt Ryder entered the zone and stopped up, dishing to Sacre as room opened for him in the middle of the ice.  He shot off McCarther’s mask and over the glass as he nearly beat the goaltender.  Norm Gallant’s Tigers kept weathering the storm and then they’d go back and try to create their own chances.  Their problem was that they weren’t having any luck giving Stryniak challenging shots to save as their best chances were being thwarted by the Aurora D. 

 

Thanks not to say the Tigers D wasn’t doing as much.  Even a guy like Brandon Crowell was blocking shots, like one from James McCarron right off the left hand which appeared to shake him up.  His team put on a couple minutes of dominance but had zero to show for it, and then Matt Ryder broke loose and with a little space he shot, looking for the same spot he scored on earlier, he once again beat McCarther’s blocker, but rattled it off the post instead.  Both teams with 2 posts that could have swayed the score and the game in other directions.  Their problem Aurora took the post lead 30 seconds later when Ryder hit the same post again, this time after Steve Power made a nice pass from behind the net to set him up.

 

With a few minutes left in regulation, the Tigers took a timeout and rested with the draw in their zone.  It didn’t work.  The Aurora won the draw back to Chris Ryder and his shot went off the shaft of McCarther’s stick and stayed out.  Down to 20 seconds in regulation, the Aurora called their timeout.  The draw once again in the Tigers zone, again Ryder vs Crowell.  The draw is scrambled, Chris Ryder gets a backhander on goal, but time expired, this game’s going to overtime.  The game is tied 1-1, the Aurora ahead in shots 25-22, a close game all around.

 

5 minutes of 5 aside, the 5 minutes of 4 aside, the 3 on 3 until, it ends.

 

Matt Ryder gets the first shot of overtime as he takes a backhander off the rush which McCarther absorbs.  Dan Keays was skating back into his own zone to get the puck when he forgot how to skate and went down.  Steve Power thought he had breakaway but Keays made a solid play whole on his stomach, stealing the puck away and staying firm on his stick as Power could only laugh at his inability to make good on the opportunity.

 

Matt Ryder went for the air mailed area pass to Bobby Sacre and Sacre was first to the bouncing puck, but it bounced right over his stick and he couldn’t capitalize.   The shots were mounting for the Aurora and then the Tigers finally got a chance as Brandon Crowell dropped the puck to Kurt Thibault, whose shot was redirected by Ron Beaton, and then he got the rebound but Stryniak stayed square to the puck and kept it out.  With seconds left in the overtime period, Chris Ryder fired a shot which McCarther stopped with his glove but couldn’t hold it.  He did however whack it away before Steve Power could get close enough.

 

On to 4 on 4 for 5 minutes.

 

Nathan Bessey got the puck in his own end and went for a rush.  He deked through the centre of the ice and as he got to the slot, Norm Gallant forced him wide.  Matt Ryder was going to the net and Bessey saw him.  He made the pass and Glenn Boyce got his skate on it to stop a sure goal.

 

Mike Gilmore took a point shot which Norm deflected.  Josh had to kick out the left pad to make a toe save.  Matt Ryder grabbed the rebound as he slid on one knee, the puck on his backhand.  An open net was there for a mere moment as Ryder corralled the puck and McCarther slid over in desperation.  The backhand came but Josh denied him and the rebound went under his body.

 

Kurt Thibault made a long pass up to Crowell.  He saw Brandon Marsh and went for the spinorama move, and it worked.  He spun into a backhand shooting position and he fired, but he got way too much of the puck and sailed it well over the net as his team lamented the missed beauty of a goal.  Crowell would get another good chance 30 seconds later but the puck went into the breadbasket of Stryniak.

 

As players were getting more and more tired, the opportunities were starting to come more often.  Chris Ryder waited out a check at the blue line and passed to Bessey at the side of the goal.  He took a step to the front of the net to change his angle and snapped a shot off, but McCarther caught it and kept the game going.

 

Off the next draw, the shot comes in from the point and Josh kicks it wide.  Lacey, who scored an important wraparound goal in their deciding game vs the Norsemen last week, and is a known wraparound lover, went for it.  He hit the post and the pad on the goal line as McCarther slid across and slammed hit pad against the post.  Then Josh Beaudreau was stopped on the rebound for good measure.  The Tigers bench thought the puck had gone into for a moment, hating that Lacey had ended it.  But he hadn’t and play went on.  At the other end, after 3 shots missed the net, the Tigers got one on goal, right off the head of Stryniak, just before time expired on double overtime.

 

On to triple OT, 3 on 3 until we see a winner.

 

Early in the period Bobby Sacre is heading to the bench for a change and Dan Keays is rushing up ice.  Mike Gilmore busts his ass to get in front of him and swings his stick at the puck, connecting with Keays’ skate as he makes a move and taking him down.  Penalty in 3OT.  Wild.

 

The game moves to 4 on 3 for the power play.  Thibault comes out of the corner and shoots but is denied.  Bessey goes to clear it and Keays knocks it out of the air.  As the puck rolls, Keays back pedals to give himself space as Bessey approaches.  He doesn’t expect the pressure to continue and Bessey knocks the puck loose.  Nathan Bessey is all alone, Crowell giving a half hearted chase.  Bessey dekes to his backhand and has McCarther down and out, he shoots, he scores!!!   Hold the phone.  The ref is calling no goal.  As McCarther went for the save, he knocked the net and it went off the moorings, no goal.

 

The Aurora are incensed, livid really.  They believe this should count, but it’s not going to.  Both officials agree.  The puck is dropped and we are back in action.  Less than a minute later Brandon Crowell moves into the Aurora zone.  Lacey takes his feet out, no call, then he shoots the puck away but the Tigers get it before it exits the zone and Allan Beaton sends it to Crowell down low.  Glenn Boyce is going to the net and the pass hits him right on the tape.  Unlike early in the game where he couldn't hit the net to save his life, he one touches it over the pad and under the glove of Stryniak and the Tigers win!  The Aurora bench is still outraged.  A victory they believe they should have been celebrating, turned into a defeat in less than 2 minutes.

 

Game 2 goes tonight and there will be tension in the air as the Nomad Cup will make an appearance for the first time this season.  Will the Tigers make it a perfect playoff and win the Cup, or will the Aurora find redemption?  Come out to the RBC Centre at 9:15 tonight to find out.