It’s early in the first round of the Provincial Junior Hockey League playoffs, but already the Orillia Terriers are facing a ‘must-win’ game.
The Terriers dropped a heartbreaking 5-4 overtime loss Thursday night in Schomberg and will look to turn things around tonight at Rotary Place.
“Tonight is a must-win for sure,” said the Terriers’ leading scorer, Kyle Heitzner.
The veteran forward returns to the lineup tonight after serving a five-game suspension for ‘abuse of officials.’
“I’m going to do my best to just play hockey and light up the scoresheet now that I’m back,” Heitzner vowed.
The Terriers, who started the series on the road despite having home-ice advantage in the best-of-seven affair, fought from behind throughout the opening game of the series.
Schomberg drew first blood and then scored what video replays showed was a clear good goal to go up 2-0. However, the puck rocketed out of the net quickly after hitting the skirting inside the net and officials thought it hit the post.
The break helped and Jack Beck tallied a power-play marker to even the score at 1-1.
In the second period, the hometown Cougars dominated and built a 3-1 advantage.
In the third, Terriers captain Owen King hit the post on a point-blank chance, before setting up Josh Brown for a key goal. Zane Morris then knotted the score.
However, Schomberg again jumped out front and it looked like they would win in regulation time. But Brown scored his second goal of the game, late, to send the game into overtime.
Just two minutes into the extra period, Schomberg scored to complete the upset.
Heitzner believes the tide is about to turn.
“We are too good to be losing any more games against these guys,” said Heizner, who scored 29 goals and added 43 helpers in just 31 games to lead the team in scoring. His presence back in the lineup should help.
On paper, the series should be a mis-match.
Orillia finished in third place in the Carruthers Division after compiling a 25-14-0-3 regular-season record. Schomberg finished in sixth place with a 11-22-1-2 mark.
Game time tonight at Rotary Place is 7:30 p.m.
Game 3 goes Feb. 10 in Schomberg, with a fourth game slated for Saturday, Feb. 15 in Orillia at 7:30 p.m.
If necessary, a fifth game would be played in Orillia Feb. 18, Game 6 is slated for Feb. 20 in Schomberg and a seventh game would be played Feb. 22 in Orillia.
