It took the extra period but the Bobcats would prevail as the defeated the Olds Grizzlys 3-2 in overtime on Friday night.
The boys were back in town as the Bobcats took on the Olds Grizzlys looking for their first home game of the 2014 calendar year. The Bobcats came up just short in Drayton Valley on Tuesday night losing in a goal-fest, 7-6. Coming into the game the Bobcats were sitting at .500 with a record of 19-19-4 on the season, third place in the North Division standings with multiple teams chasing them. Meanwhile the Olds Grizzlys won their last game in Calgary, defeating the Calgary Canucks 5-4 in overtime and came in tonight’s game sitting in 6th place in the South Division standings, with a record of 18-19-4 on the year. The last time these two teams met was on November 22nd in Olds when the Grizzlys edged the Bobcats 3-2. GM/Coach Garry VanHereweghe was not behind the bench at the Civic Centre tonight, rather opting for his office as the AJHL deadline approached at 10:00 PM, assistant coach Kyle Tapp would be filling in.
Bobcats would open up the scoring late in the first period, on the power-play, Braden Crone would drive to the net and slip one past Grizzlys Ethan Jemieff, unassisted, to take the 1-0 lead. That score would stand after 20 minutes, Bobcats outshoot Olds 12-9 in the period.
Second period was a similar story as the previous twenty minutes as the Bobcats capitalized on a late power-play. Linden Springer would let one rip top corner, no chance for Jemieff to give the Bobcats the 2-0 edge. Assists coming in from Grant Baker and Braden Crone, his second point of the night. Devin Green stood tall throughout the period making timely saves, Olds led in shots 12-6 in the period.
Olds would get on the board in the third period, Jack Goranson made it 2-1 with 12 minutes remaining in the third period. Then Olds would even things up on the power-play, wrap around from Spencer Dorowicz ties it up 2-2. After 60 minutes we were all nodded up at 2-2, this one needed overtime
3:02 into the extra session, Eric Therrien and Brock Weston would break into Olds territory where Brock Weston bangs one home for his first career AJHL goal and the overtime winner, Bobcats win 3-2 OT. Total shots in the game were 37-32 in favour of the Grizzlys.
It’s doesn’t matter how two points are won, assistant coach Kyle Tapp says a win is a win, “happy we got the win, it was the most shots we gave up all year, so we’ll need to address that. We went to the net hard, the battle level, the compete level, the team effort, the sacrifices, if you’re willing to go battle and truly self-sacrifice then good things will happen.”
Before the game, it was announced Nolan Yaremchuk had been traded to the Drayton Valley Thunder in exchange for future considerations.
Next up the Bobcats take on their North Division rivals Whitecourt Wolverines tomorrow night in an ongoing battle for third place in the division. Remember fans to please bring a non-perishable food item to tomorrow’s game as we continue to fill the team bus!