Mayer completes hat trick in overtime, 67’s put stranglehold on Bulldogs
Sam Mayer did it all for the Ottawa 67’s, Thursday night, as his team pushed the Brantford Bulldogs to the brink of elimination.
The L’Orignal native not only scored a Gordie Howe hat trick, but capped off an actual hat trick in overtime, delivering a thrilling 6-5 victory, in a game full of momentum changes.
Down 3-1 in the dying minutes of the second, Mayer’s second of the game swung things in Ottawa’s favour heading into the third. It kicked off a three-goal run in the final frame, as a powerplay goal from Henry Mews, along with quick goals from Bradley Horner, and Will Gerrior vaulted the home side into a 5-3 lead.
Just when it seemed things were well in hand, though, Ottawa found themselves on the penalty with just 2:52 to go, and Nick Lardis evened the score at 5-5 with 56 seconds left on the clock.
Despite Brantford’s furious efforts to beat Collin MacKenzie, and tie the series, it was a Mayer point shot that ping-ponged its way through a crowd, sending the raucous crowd inside The Arena at TD Place into a frenzy.
The Bulldogs once again got things started early, with a Marek Vanacker goal 3:51 in.
They benefitted off another fortunate bounce 47 seconds into the middle period, when a seemingly innocent shot somehow bounced out of MacKenzie’s glove, and Adrian Rebelo poked it in for a 2-0 lead.
Mayer opened Ottawa’s account, parked up front on the powerplay, but Lavoie returned fire for Brantford with the man advantage, before Mayer’s goal in the late second kicked off the wild exchange by both teams.
MacKenzie out duelled Drobac in goal, making 37 saves to his counterpart’s 23. Both teams went 2/3 on the powerplay.
Ottawa looks to close out the series on Saturday afternoon, in a 4:00pm puck drop from the Brantford Civic Centre.