Attack lose overtime thriller
The Owen Sound Attack and Guelph Storm showcased playoff hockey at its finest on Wednesday, Apr. 1.
A frantic back and forth game in regulation saw the teams head to overtime with the score knotted at 2-2 before the game winner was found.
And when it came, it came off of the stick of Guelph’s Givani Smith with 5:24 gone in the extra frame.
The 1st period saw play go back and forth a number of times with neither team conceding space to the other.
Despite the tightness of play in the opening 20 minutes, the Attack and Storm were able to combine for 28 shots, with Jack Flinn turning aside 15 while Justin Nichols stopped all 13 he faced.
The perfrect performance in net sent the teams to the 2nd period with zeroes up on the scoreboard, where the Attack grabbed the early momentum.
Owen Sound dominated the Storm, hemming them deep in Guelph’s end.
The Attack’s pressure was so much, that with 9:39 remaining in the 2nd, the Storm had only registered one shot on goal to the Attack’s 11 in the period.
Unfortunately for the Attack, their momentum seemed to be all for naught, as one of Justin Nichols’ seemingly countless saves allowed Guelph to go the other way and score on a deflection with 12:56 gone in the frame.
While Guelph was able to grab the 1-0 lead on Jason Dickinson’s goal, Owen Sound’s pressure would eventually pay off.
Petrus Palmu was the man to solve the Guelph goaltender, and he did it on the Attack’s 19th shot of the 2nd, a howitzer of a snapshot on a Baywest Nissan Powerplay.
Thomas Schemitsch and Jack Flinn assisted on the goal, which made it 1-1 with 5:06 left in the 2nd.
Neither team was able to add another goal before the 2nd period expired, but the Attack was certainly able to continue their momentum build.
With under 3:00 to play in the stanza the Attack successfully killed off an extended 5 on 3 Guelph powerplay, a man advantage that saw Chris Bigras in the box for two minutes.
Owen Sound and Guelph would head to the final period tied at one apiece, with the Attack having outshot Guelph 20-5 in the 2nd period and 35-18 overall through 40 minutes.
The Attack continued to pile it on in the 3rd period, putting another 10 shots on Guelph’s net before the 3rd was halfway over.
It was that 10th shot that proved to be the biggest though, with Daniel Milne giving the Attack a 2-1 lead at the 8:35 mark of the frame.
Milne fired on Nichols from the corner and was able to squeak it into the back of the net for the go-ahead goal.
While the Attack’s goal gave them the lead, the Storm were determined to claw back into the contest and the last 10 minutes of the game were back and forth.
But claw back the Storm did. With just 1:27 left in the game, Guelph’s Garrett McFadden batted a puck out of mid air and into the net to tie the game at 2.
McFadden’s goal came while the Attack were on a Baywest Nissan Powerplay and would send the squads to overtime for the 2nd time in the series.
When the overtime period began there were chances at either end of the rink.
It was a 2nd chance goal that would wind up ending the game, and after a shot riccocheted off of the Attack post, Guelph’s Givani Smith banged it home to give the Storm a 3-2 victory.
The win gave Guelph a 3-1 lead in the series, with Game 5 set to be played on Friday night in Guelph.
Daniel Milne was named the Ryobi Tools Hardest Working Player of the Game after scoring his 3rd of the playoffs.
Givani Smith was named the Mac Taylor Corporation 3rd Star of the Game thanks to his winning goal, while the goalies were 1st and 2nd star.
Guelph netminder Justin Nichols earned 1st star honours with his 48 saves while Jack Flinn turned aside 34 for 2nd star.
The Attack will return to action when the series shifts to Guelph for Game 5 on Saturday, Apr. 4. Puck drop is set for 7:30 pm.
This season of Attack Hockey is brought to you by Caframo.
