Friday night’s tilt between the Ottawa Black Bears and the Georgia Swarm was very reminiscent of when the sports world was impacted by Covid. The difference is there weren’t very many people at the game because of the weather. A snowstorm hit the Georgia area, along with surrounding areas, and negatively affected the fans’ ability to travel to and from. Admittedly, it is pretty cool to hear the players communicate and listen to the sounds of the game that are drowned out by the crowd, music, etc.
This game featured two stars of the game, one being Lyle Thompson and the other being Jeff Teat. When these two lined up across from one another, there is sure to be fireworks. Both of these studs racked up eight points each, but it was Teat and the Black Bears that got the last laugh, running out of snowy Duluth with a 14-10 win.
Lyle got the few in attendance pumped up early, as he buried the Swarm’s first two goals of the game, just 34 seconds apart. Joey Cupido tacked on another with his first and the Swarm were, well, swarming. (sorry) Larson Sundown finally got Ottawa on the board, but was quickly answered by Bryan Cole. The Black Bears finally swung the momentum at the end of the first, as Kiel Matisz and Taggart Clark each scored their first. 4-3 Georgia after one.
Ottawa completed their four-goal run with two more to begin the second, one from Connor Kearnan and the other from Jacob Dunbar on the power play. Lyle completed the first half hat trick in response, but Jeff Teat answered right back with his first. The momentum definitely shifted at the end of the first, because at this point, Ottawa was very much controlling the pace of the game. 6-5 Black Bears at the break.
Let’s pause from the scoring and give some love to the men between the pipes, as both men played sensationally in the first half. On one side, Zach Higgins faced an obscene amount of shots, making 36 saves. On the other end, Brett Dobson nearly matched him, making 24 saves on 30 shots.
There was an evident uptick in scoring in the third quarter, resulting in Ottawa boosting their lead. Teat opened up the scoring, but was quickly answered by his counterpart, Lyle. Directly following, Sundown and Cole each traded goals, both their second of the game. Lyle tallied his fifth at the 10:06 mark, but that’d be it for the Georgia scoring in the third. Ottawa went on another three-goal run to close it out and bump their lead to three. Scorers in that run were Dunbar twice and Sundown. 11-8 Black Bears after three.
If it wasn’t noticeable already, every time Georgia started any sort of comeback attempt, Ottawa was right there to put it to bed. Another example, as Shayne Jackson kicked off the scoring in the fourth for the Swarm, but Ottawa had the answer in the form of two-straight. Stop me when you’ve heard that before. Those goals were scored by Clark and Kearnan. Cole got his hat trick in the late stages of the frame, but it would be nowhere near enough. Teat answered that with his hat trick just 18 seconds after. For the remaining three-ish minutes, Ottawa’s defense, along with Higgins, completely shut down the Georgia offense. Your final from chilly Duluth, 14-10 Black Bears.
Players of the game for Ottawa were Teat (3+5), Dunbar (3+2), and Sundown (3+3). Higgins was silly all game long, making 41 saves on 51 shots. For Georgia, Lyle (5+3), Cole (three goals), and Cupido (1+1) led the way. Dobson had his shining moments, but ultimately came up short. He made 33 saves on 47 shots.
Georgia (4-2) are losers of two-straight after starting with four-straight wins. They look to get back into the win column as they travel to take on Calgary (2-2). That game is this Saturday at 9pm. Ottawa (3-2) is trending in the right direction. Their next contest is Friday night at 7pm as they welcome in the Vancouver Warriors (3-1).
