Talk about dramatic.
In front of the biggest crowd of the season, Captain Broderick Black scored in double overtime to spark the McLean & Dickey Orillia Terriers to a dramatic 5-4 double-overtime win Saturday night over the Schomberg Cougars.
With the dramatic victory, Orillia leads the best-of-seven, second-round Provincial Junior Hockey League playoff series 2-1.
The game, played in front of 421 local hockey fans, was action-packed throughout, featuring massive hits and quality scoring chances. But it did not start well for the home side.
Just six minutes into the contest, Cougars forward Stuart Barber received a cross-crease dish from forward Cameron Kokelj and ripped it top shelf.
Ten minutes later the Cougars beat Terriers goalie Wade Monague again when forward Jacob Futas tipped in a Carlo Lionti shot. It was 2-0 for the visitors.
“I got really down on myself after that,” Monague admitted. “But I knew it was my chance to start playing the way I know I can."
Monague would go on to stop 47 of 51 shots on the night - including a second-period penalty shot - to earn the win.
In the dying seconds of the opening frame, the Terriers were desperate for the next goal. Outshooting Schomberg 22-12 and on the power play, the Terriers were hammering Cougars goalie Tristan Szymanowski with shot after shot.
During a frantic scrum in front of the net, the puck came loose to defenceman Isaiah Philip, who shovelled it in with his backhand. There were only 0.1 seconds remaining on the scoreboard when the puck crossed the line.
While applying pressure in Cougars territory to start the second period, a Terriers defender tried to stop a rolling puck from clearing the opposing zone but instead tipped it to Cougars forward Christian Taylor, who buried his seventh of the playoffs to give the visitors a two-goal advantage once again.
Terriers regular season leading goal scorer Josh Brown answered the call four minutes later, collecting his own rebound on a two-on-none opportunity with Dylan Palomaki.
“It was a relief to get that one,” Brown said. “It’s been a tight series and we’ve been a goal apart with them through these first few games.”
Moments later the Terriers would capitalize on a power-play opportunity when forward Noah Mountain hammered home Sam Pink’s rebound.
However, it wouldn’t be long before the Cougars reclaimed their lead. Stuart Barber got his second of the game by beating Monague low on his blocker side.
Despite the Cougars attempt to shut the Terriers out and escape with a 2-1 series lead, Brown tipped a Lucas Wessinger shot from the point to knot that game at four with just under four minutes left in the third period.
“I just went to the net and those kinds of tips are something we’ve practised before,” Brown said. “I just tried to get a stick on it and it was a good, low shot from Wessinger.”
Brown now has four goals in the playoffs and he seems to be potting them when it matters most.
“I just do my part,” he said. “It’s a good feeling when I can help the boys win.”
The game needed an extra frame for the second time in the best-of-seven tilt. With just over six minutes left in the bonus period, a Terriers rush was whistled dead by referees who issued defenceman Lucas Wessinger a four-minute butt-ending penalty.
However, Monague held the Cougars off the scoresheet, stopping 17 shots in the overtime periods.
“I thought to myself, 'I can’t throw this game away,'” he said. “Our guys kept us in it.”
The frustrated home crowd jumped to its feet when the Cougars' long power play came to a halt by way of a tripping penalty to Cougars forward Luke Miehm. The Terriers failed to cash in on the over 90-second power-play chance, sending the game to a second overtime.
In the 86th minute of the game, Terriers captain Broderick Black redirected a wrist shot from Jayden Murison, tipping it by Szymanowski for the game-winner.
“I just went to the net and got my stick down,” he said. “(Isaiah) got off a shot-pass to the net, I got a piece of it, and it went five-hole.”
Black says he didn’t even know what to do when the puck went in.
“I was caught up in the moment and excited,” he said of the emotional goal. “I was surprised that it went in. It was such a tight game.”
The Terriers look to take a commanding 3-1 series lead today in Schomberg at 2:30 p.m. Reed Spinola will get the start in goal.
“We have to start better,” Black said. “They are going to come out blazing so we have to get the legs going early.”
Game 5 will bring the series back to Rotary Place on Tuesday night. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m.
