LETHBRIDGE — In a game that held looming playoff implications, Lethbridge Pronghorns starter Jack Burgart was outstanding for his side. Unfortunately, a late blunder in the second period allowed the Mount Royal Cougars to tie the game and ultimately win the contest in the second overtime period by a score of 3 – 2.
Fans were treated to an exciting, back-and-forth game of hockey on Bell Let's Talk night at the Nicholas Sheran Arena, and although it was not the desired outcome for most, fans left the rink enamoured by Burgart's performance, worthy of second star honours.
MRU's Keegan Iverson claimed first star honours thanks to his game-winning goal in the second overtime period, while teammate Riley Lindgren's goal on six shots was enough to award him third star for the evening.
The Cougars came out of the gate early and pressed deep in the Lethbridge zone for extended stretches of time. After recouping the puck on a Pronghorns dump-in, Sean Richards landed the two-line pass to Keegan Iverson entering the Lethbridge zone. Iverson crossed the ice, dropped it to a trailing Ryley Lindgren, and he found space to fire the long first shot on Burgart that opened the scoring.
Lethbridge answered just over two minutes later. Michael Clarke picked up the puck in the neutral zone with Landon Gross at his side. Clarke skated through the sight lane of Morris, dropped it to Gross, whose toe-drag past the MRU defender cleared the lane past Morris, tying the game up at one.
Momentum swung between the two clubs throughout the rest of the frame, with the shot tally residing in MRU's favour by a single shot after the frame, with the score tied.
This game saw its first penalties nearing the halfway point of the game. After killing off Josh Borynec's hooking penalty, the Pronghorns had their first powerplay opportunity with Andrew Fyten sit for slashing but negated this chance when Russell Maxwell took a cross-checking penalty.
On the ensuing four-on-four opportunity, the extra ice allowed Cameron Trott to stretch a pass along the boards to Michael Clarke, who carried it into the zone before he stopped off for Coleman to take the puck. Coleman skated behind the Cougars goal line, passed the puck back to Clarke before circling the net, and Clarke buried it past Morris to give his side their first lead of the game.
Lethbridge nearly carried that lead into the dressing room, if only the period were three seconds shorter. After fanning on the clearing attempt behind his net, Burgart struggled to recover positioning in his net, allowing Keegan Iverson to come in and bury the puck past Burgart to tie the game heading into the intermission.
Period three saw no change in scoring, but the exceptional defensive awareness of both netminders was on full display to take this game to overtime. Burgart made five exceptional saves at his end to keep the Pronghorns in the game, while Morris made a pair of his own in the frame to counter the momentum generated by Burgart.
The first overtime frame brought fans a continuation of the goaltending spectacular brought by Burgart in the third, including a pair of excellent saves midway through the frame to keep the game alive for his team.
Inside the opening minute of the second overtime period, on an offensive-zone faceoff, Lindgren tied up his Pronghorn counterpart, allowing Iverson to step in, retrieve the puck, and fire it past Burgart to close out the game and take game one of the home-and-home series.
With the win, the playoff-bound Mount Royal Cougars (14-7-2, 30 pts) remain two points behind the Calgary Dinos (15-6-2, 32 pts) for third place in the Canada West conference. The Lethbridge Pronghorns (5-16-2, 12 pts) remain in eighth place, but with the extra point are now five points back of the UBC Thunderbirds (6-12-5, 17 pts) and the Regina Cougars (7-13-3, 17 pts) for the final playoff spot.
The teams will head to Calgary on Saturday to finish their home-and-home series. Puck drops at 6 PM at the Flames Community Arena, but fans can catch the action anywhere with Canada West TV, presented by Co-op.
