LETHBRIDGE — In a game that fans thought was over early in the third, the Lethbridge Pronghorns overcame those odds to take down the Mount Royal Cougars in a shootout 4-3.
Thanks to a pair of late game goals by Michael Clarke and Landon Gross, the Pronghorns were able to provide the Nicholas Sheran Arena with its first Canada West Men's Hockey overtime game of the season, one which ultimately ended in their favour.
Lethbridge starter Jack Burgart made 42 saves in through overtime plus two shootout saves in the win, while Mount Royal's Riley Morris turned aside 35 in regulation and made one shootout save in the loss.
After killing off an early holding penalty taken by Josh Patrician, the Pronghorns were gifted an early power play as Helsegen was assessed a minor for interference.
Lethbridge broke into the zone on the man-advantage with Landon Gross circling the Cougars net. The play was momentarily broken up by the visiting defence before Kyle Gordon retrieved the loose puck to feed an unmarked Michael Clarke, who one-timed the puck past Morris for the only marker of the period.
A short scrum behind the Burgart-backed net to close the frame, but Lethbridge's Evan Wardley was the only player sent to the box, assessed a minor for cross-checking.
The Cougars pressured the Pronghorns in their own end throughout the powerplay to start the second, with their strong forechecking creating quality chances in front of Burgart. The increasing offensive pressure led to the Cougars finding the equalizer with 13-seconds remaining on the Wardley penalty.
Helgesen gloved the loose puck down and passed it to Brad Kennedy, who toe-drug Luke Coleman on the reception and faked the wrist shot over to the nearby Sean Richards. Richards' quick snap-shot found net above the blocker shoulder of Burgart, tying the game up at one.
Mount Royal netted their second marker late in the second period, converting on a failed breakout by the host Pronghorns. Helgesen got control of the loose puck and shovelled it to the far-side of the blue line where Nolan Yaremko deflects the puck to Richards as they cross.
After Richards' initial shot from the half-boards was stopped by Burgart, forceful prodding by Helgesen propelled the puck behind the netminder, into the path of a collapsing Josh Borynec's skate, and into the open net. That goal gave the visiting side their first lead of the hockey game.
Heading into the third period with the lead, the Cougars strengthened their momentum with a number of quality chances on the Pronghorn net, and the sustained pressure on the Lethbridge defence granted Mount Royal another deflected goal.
Kade Jensen received the pass from a deep Keegan Iverson and his dump-in wrist shot deflected off of a Pronghorn defenders leg and past Burgart, increasing the home side's deficit by yet another goal.
Lethbridge would not let this game be thrown to the Cougars, as they found the will to score two goals late in the final frame to force the game to overtime.
Off a faceoff win by Clarke with six minutes remaining, the puck is cycled to Taylor Fisher and Russell Maxwell, the latter of whose point shot is deflected past Morris by Landon Gross to cut the Cougars lead in half.
Inside the final minute of play with Burgart on the bench for the extra attacker, a Torrin White wrist-shot from the near-side faceoff dot was saved by Morris, but the rebound deflected right to the slot for Gross whose one-time slap shot went bar down to tie the game at three and force overtime.
Two periods of overtime saw a number of excellent opportunities for both sides, with the Pronghorns getting the bulk of odd-man opportunities throughout – and with nobody able to find the back of the net, a shootout was required.
Coleman and Richards were first up, shooting in that order for their respective teams. Coleman skated to the net and scored five-hole on Morris, while Richards' forehand deke was saved by a sprawling Burgart.
Clarke and Iverson both of scored on their attempts. The former scored quickly above the glove-side shoulder of Morris and the latter scored deceptively five-hole on Burgart.
Round three saw Gross and Ryley Lindgren take shots for their teams, but both Morris and Burgart were up to task. Gross' in-close wrist shot hit the crossbar and over, while Lindgren's in-close wrist shot hits the blocker-side post, ending the game in favour of the home side.
With the win, Lethbridge improves to 4-6-0 (8 pts) on the season, holding on to the sixth and final playoff spot in the Canada West conference, with a one-point advantage over the UBC Thunderbirds (2-2-3, 7 pts).
Mount Royal (7-1-1, 15 pts) moves one point up in the standings with the shootout loss, giving them a two-point advantage over the Calgary Dinos (6-2-1, 13 pts) for second place.
Next weekend, the Cougars will be taking on the Dinos in another home-and-home series, while the Pronghorns head West to take on the Thunderbirds. You can catch these Canada West games – and many more – live on CanadaWest.TV, presented by Co-op.
