The finale of Week 9 games came to us from the Loud House in Denver, Colorado. The hometown Mammoth have been on a tear lately and looked to continue that by fending off the visiting Oshawa FireWolves.
Colorado used eight different goal scorers, four of which had multi-goal games and continued their winning ways, boosting their win streak to four with a 15-11 win.
The newest Oshawa FireWolves forward, Dawson Theede, wasted very little time getting on the board for his new club. 41 seconds to be exact, however Will Malcom had the answer for Colorado. Alex Simmons registered the next two goals for Oshawa, but that’d be it for their scoring for the remainder of the first quarter. Colorado finished the frame on a four-goal run and completely swung the momentum back their way. Those four goals were scored by Andrew Kew twice, Malcom, and Thomas Vela. 5-3 Colorado after one.
Kew kicked off the scoring in the second with his hat trick goal on the power play. Oshawa showed their moxie in response, as they rattled off three-in-a-row to tie the game back up. Those three were courtesy of Tye Kurtz, Simmons, and Zac Masson. Kurtz buried another, and Tim Edwards and Owen Rahn scored for the Mammoth to help maintain their one-goal lead. 8-7 Mammoth at the break.
“They’re a bigger, stronger group”, said Simmons about the Mammoth defense. “I think if we can get them on their toes, moving side-to-side, we’ll benefit from it. This is a game of runs; we’re going to go on ours; they’re going to go on theirs.”
We were treated to quite the goaltender matchup in this game on top of the physicality and high scoring. Both men between the pipes saw their fair-share of shots, having almost identical numbers as the other. Dillon Ward stopped 23 of 30, while Doug Jamieson stopped 26 of 34.
Colorado stretched their run to four to begin the third quarter, as Braedon Saris, Rahn, and Jack Hannah netted a trio of goals. Simmons and Kurtz answered right back, but Kew scored his fourth in the waning seconds to continue the Mammoth’s offensive onslaught. 12-9 Mammoth after three.
Colorado kept their foot on the gas, along with limiting Oshawa’s chances in the fourth quarter. The Mammoth outscored the FireWolves 3-2 in the final frame, and with the backing of the Loud House, propelled themselves to victory. The two Oshawa goals were scored by Kurtz on the power play and Patrick Kaschalk. The three Mammoth goals were courtesy of Vela, Rahn, and Owen Down.
Players of the game for Colorado were Kew (4+6), Rahn (three goals), and Malcom (2+4). Ward settled in nicely in the second half, stopping 49 of 60 in total. For Oshawa, Simmons (4+6) and Kurtz (4+2) led the way. Jamieson had his shining moments, ultimately faltering late in the game. Dougie stopped 38 of 52.
“We wouldn’t be where we are without these guys in the crowd”, said Rahn. “Maybe in the first quarter it was a bit tighter than we wanted, The D buckled down in the second half and gave us an opportunity.”
Colorado is arguably the hottest team in the league right now. They look to continue their winning streak in their next game as they welcome in an old foe, the Buffalo Bandits. That game is on Saturday January 31st at 9pm. Oshawa has some soul-searching to do as they continue to go the wrong way in the standings. They stay on the road as they head to Las Vegas for their next matchup. That game is also on the 31st, with faceoff at 10pm.
