Like a good country song, there was heartbreak in Halifax on Friday night.
During country night, the Halifax Thunderbirds were down 12-6 with nine minutes left in the fourth quarter during their game against the Georgia Swarm. Amazingly, they came back to make the game 12-11 with 5.7 seconds left. But a controversial call and mistake at the end prevented the storybook ending.
But for Thunderbirds forward Austin Shanks, it was how they got themselves into the position to need a big comeback that was most disappointing.
“It is more frustrating with our start,” said Shanks, who scored two goals and four points. “We came out slow in the first (quarter) again and it seems to be something we’ve been doing on a regular basis that comes to bite you in the ass at the end of the game.”
The Thunderbirds looked like they addressed that problem in the last game. They outscored the Saskatchewan Rush 6-1 in the first quarter on their way to a 19-6 win. But their old habits came back.
“It’s on us, we need to dig deep into ourselves and make sure that doesn’t happen. It’s on no one else but ourselves,” Shanks said.
For Georgia, it was a complete effort that got them the win. Their big guns, like Lyle Thompson, Brendan Bomberry and Andrew Kew, had six points. Their defence played strong and won the turnover battle 20-13. On special teams, they scored on 3/6 man advantages and killed 3/5.
“It was a team win, there was not one side of the ball that got the win for us today. It took defence, it took offence, it took goaltending, it took special teams, so that is where it all came for us tonight,” said Georgia’s goalie Brett Dobson.
The Swarm came into this game with six wins and six losses. They’re trying to string some wins together to separate themselves in the standings, and this game could be the first step.
“Looking at our roster on paper, we have an unbelievable team that shouldn’t be .500, so for me personally, that pissed me off looking at it,” said Dobson. “So going into this week, that was what I had in mind.”
Ryan Benesch had some tough luck to start the game.
He hit the post on the first possession and Cody Jamieson got the rebound but Dobson stretched out to make a fantastic stick save. On the next possession, Benesch scored, but one of his teammates was in the crease so the goal was called off.
Georgia made Halifax pay for their missed chances. Shayne Jackson scored on the man advantage to break open the scoring.
Halifax tied the game two minutes later. Tyson Bell sent Clarke Petterson on a breakaway pass and Halifax’s leading scorer put the ball into the back of the net.
Georgia would score two more goals to end the quarter. Jeff Henrick took the ball up the floor from the defensive end and ran in on goal, completely untouched, to score. Lyle Thompson scored the other goal for the Swarm to give them a 3-1 lead at the end of the first.
Randy Staats scored a ridiculous goal to get Halifax back into the game to start the second quarter. He received the ball in front of the net with his back facing the goalie. Staats turned left but shot over his right shoulder to fool up Dobson.
But Shayne Jackson scored seven seconds later to silence the amazed crowd.
Dawson Theede and Ryan Benesch scored to give Halifax three goals in the quarter, but they were no match for Lyle Thompson, who scored Georgia’s final three goals of the half to give the Swarm a 7-4 lead at the end of the first half.
The Thunderbirds, at this point, were on pace for eight goals, which would have been the lowest offensive output this season.
“It felt like we couldn’t get our mojo on offence,” said Shanks. “Our defence, faceoffs and our goalie played really well to keep us in that game to give us a chance. We ended up finding our mojo but it was too little, too late.”
Halifax came out strong in the third quarter. Graeme Hossack laid a huge pick to open up a running lane for Shanks to get in on goal and score. Then Randy Staats blew by his defender to charge in on goal and score his second of the game to make it 7-6.
However, Andrew Kew scored two power play goals to stretch Georgia’s lead to 9-6 heading into the fourth quarter.
One of the power plays was called because Dobson was cross-checked in the back while playing the ball. Ryan Terefenko also ran into him in the game. Dobson was a bit sore after the game.
“Overall, it’s the price you have to pay to win,” said Dobson.
The Swarm didn’t let up. Zach Miller got himself wide open in the slot and scored. Brendan Bomberry also scored and Seth Oakes added a shorthanded marker to double the Thunderbirds 12-6 with 9:32 left in the fourth quarter.
The last time Halifax played at home, they were down 8-2 against the Buffalo Bandits in the second quarter. They came back from a six-goal deficit to eventually win the game. It is one thing to do that when there is still over half a game to play, but the Thunderbirds decided to attempt it in the last nine minutes.
Thirty seconds after Oakes scored, Clarke Petterson passed the ball to Dawson Theede in the slot and he scored. Then Petterson received a pass from Shanks, and he dove over the crease to put the ball into the back of the net.
Forty seconds after Petterson’s goal, Ryan Benesch shot the ball through a crowd in front to score. Austin Shanks did the exact same thing 10 seconds later, and all of a sudden, the Thunderbirds had scored four goals in four minutes to make the score 12-10.
But a controversial call slowed Halifax’s momentum. As Georgia was running the ball up the floor, Benesch shoved a player in front, and the Swarm player immediately fell. Benesch got a penalty for butt-ending. The crowd was livid at the call.
“Yeah, it was a terrible call, flat out,” said Shanks. “They got a diving call already in that game and I think that could have been another one. It was brush by a glove and he drops down like he was shot.”
Killing a penalty preoccupied the Thunderbirds for two minutes. Once they killed it, they pulled their goalie. Graeme Hossack got the ball at the side of the net and walked in front to score to make the game 12-11 with 5.7 seconds left.
“We’ve had that happen in the last couple of games. I know I can’t let my foot off the gas,” said Dobson. “I took a bit of a hit in the third quarter, and I felt like I broke my back, my spinal. But just going through it, for us defensively, they put the press on and we just couldn’t finish plays. Overall, we have to close out better, but it is the game of the week so we got to give people what they want.”
Jake Withers has been a killer at the faceoff dot tonight, winning 25-28 draws. He won the final draw, and Petterson, knowing he had little time, took off after the ball, but he was too rushed and tripped over himself and the clock expired.
The win improves Georgia’s record to 7-6. Lyle Thompson, Andrew Kew and Brendan Bomberry had six points to lead the way for the Swarm. Liam Byrnes had four caused turnovers, while Jeff Henrick and Adam Wiedemann had three. Brett Dobson stopped 42/53 shots.
The loss drops Halifax’s record to 7-5. Clarke Petterson led the way offensively with two goals and six points. Austin Shanks and Dawson Theede both scored four points and Randy Staats had two goals and an assist. Jake Withers won 25-28 draws and collected 25 loose balls. Warren Hill stopped 42/54 shots.
The Thunderbirds travel to San Diego to take on the Seals on Saturday. The Swarm heads back home on Friday to play the Calgary Roughnecks.
