Week 21 action came to us from Scotiabank Centre in Halifax as the Thunderbirds and the visiting Ottawa Black Bears were set to clash. There were massive implications in this game, and the point was simple: win and you’re in. The middle of the standings was completely logjammed and these two clubs were right in the thick of it. The Nest was set to bring the energy right from the opening draw.
For about a quarter and a half, this game was deadlocked. Every time one team took a lead, the other responded. The Thunderbirds used a five-goal run at the end of the second and beginning of the fourth quarter to propel themselves ahead. Warren Hill pitched a shutout in the third quarter, and the T-Birds went on another three-goal run in the fourth to punch their ticket to this year’s playoffs, winning 12-6. Kudos to Zach Higgins for also shutting out Halifax in the third quarter. A scoreless frame is a beautiful thing for those who love defense and goaltending.
The deadlock was apparent right from the jump. Sam Firth opened the scoring for Ottawa, but just 15 seconds later, Jason Knox had the answer. Larson Sundown buried his first on the power play, but Curtis Romanchych had the answer in the waning seconds. 2-2 after one.
As we said, the back-and-forth continued for about half of the second quarter. Jeff Teat kicked off the scoring, but Halifax responded with two-straight, one from Cody Jamieson and the other from Mike Robinson. Teat answered right back to tie it again with his second. Teat’s second goal would be the last for the Black Bears in a staggering 26:16 of game play. The Thunderbirds’ defense, along with Hill, really clamped down and the offense kicked it up a notch. Four of the five goals in their run were scored to close out the second. Those goals were scored by Colton Armstrong, Wake:Riat BowHunter, Trevor Smyth, and Knox. Blink your eyes and it was 8-4 Halifax at the break.
“We just have to stay disciplined”, said Knox about keeping Ottawa at bay. “Keep going, stick to our gameplan and go to the net.”
Fast forward to the fourth quarter. The fifth and final goal of the monster Halifax run was buried by Graeme Hossack. Teat finally broke the scoreless drought, but it seemed like it was too little, too late. Halifax answered right back with three more, courtesy of BowHunter, Clarke Petterson, and Hossack on the power play. Rob Hellyer made the scoreboard look a bit better with his first in the waning seconds, but that’d be all she wrote. The Halifax Thunderbirds are headed back to the playoffs for the fifth straight year. At the 2:45 mark of the fourth quarter, tempers boiled over as there was a massive scrum between the benches, resulting in five misconducts and a boatload of penalty minutes.
Players of the game for Halifax were Hossack (2+1), BowHunter (2+1), and Knox (two goals). Hill was a madman all game long, stopping 34 of 39 in 57:47. Drew Hutchison saw some time as well and stopped two of three the rest of the way. For Ottawa, Teat (3+2), Hellyer (1+3), and Sundown (one goal) led the way. Zach Higgins has nothing to hang his head about, as he did everything he could to keep his team in it. He stopped 30 of 40.
“We’re resilient, we believe in each other”, said Petterson. “You play as hard as you can, you play for the guy next to you. We’re getting hot at the right time; you want to be peaking at the right time and that’s what we’re doing.”
“We’ve talked about having belief in ourselves and our team”, said Hill. “That’s something we’ve carried throughout the season; we’ve had to have that trust and belief in one another and now we’ve made it to the playoffs. We’ve come a long way as a group and I’m so proud of them tonight.”
(8) Halifax ships off for their first-round matchup against (1) Vancouver. The first round is single elimination, so they are going to have to continue bringing their A-game. That contest is on Friday April 24th at 10pm.
