Moose rebound in South Division Quarter-Final
win two straight over Rattlers to force 5th and deciding game!
March 5th, 2009 at 6:41PM November 30th, 2011 6:30PM
The Moose were on the verge of elimination in the South Division Quarter-Final series against 2-time defending Russell Cup champion Bradford, but have rebounded with 2 straight wins, their first ever against the Rattlers, to tie the series at 2 games each, forcing a fifth and deciding game tonight in Bradford.
The Moose have moved to within a win of a series win for the first time in the GMHL’s 3 year history, and just as noteworthy, have put the Rattlers on the verge of elimination for the first time in theirs! The Rattlers have won eight straight series the past two seasons on their way to consecutive titles, and not once have they faced a win-or-out situation.
A rundown of the series so far:
Game #1 – All Rattlers in this one, as they took it to the Moose early and often, scoring 4 times before the Moose changed goaltenders, and eventually winning 8-1. Things didn’t look good for the Moose to make it a series – a series most predicted would end in three or four games at most in favour of Bradford.
Game #2 – In the return match in Thornhill last Saturday night, a completely different story. The Moose came up with an effort we haven’t displayed all season, and maybe in our history. It was 60 solid minutes, outplaying the Rattlers by a substantial margin. Despite outshooting and outchancing our opponents, the Rattler scored three in the third, including an open-netter to seal the 4-2 win. However, the Moose came out of the game with a sense of confidence that we could compete with the Rattlers, and a belief we could come back.
Game #3 – Back in Bradford and facing elimination, the Moose came out flying and got off to a quick 2-0. In fact, even though we didn’t play quite as well as the previous night, we maintained the lead the entire game, until disaster struck. Nursing a 5-4 lead, with a face-off in our own end with only 2 seconds remaining in the game, the Rattlers pulled off the miracle and tied right off the draw with 1 second remaining. However, we collected ourselves for the overtime, and 8 minutes in, Derrick Hamner caught the Rattlers defense flatfooted and send a wristshot to the far corner with overtime, the Moose’s first over Bradford in league history, cutting the series lead to 2-1.
Game #4 – Playing this afternoon, the Moose once again came out ready and established a 2-0 lead after one. In the second, the Moose kept things going and got another for the 3-1 lead. The Rattlers began to take control and cut the lead to 3-1. The Moose called a time-out to try and turn the momentum back in our favour, and it seemed to work. Two more goals before the end of the second, and the Moose took a 5-1 lead into the room after two.
However, you can never count out the talented Rattlers, and sure enough, the big lead led to some complacency on the part of the Moose, and Bradford took advantage. Before you know it, the Rattler had cut the lead to a now familiar 5-4 with over 8 minutes remaining, and kept the pressure on. However, the Moose managed to hold on in regulation time in this case, and force Game 5 on Wednesday.
Our last two wins have not seen us play as well as we did in the 4-2 loss on Saturday, but we got it done. Now it’s do or die for both clubs in the deciding game of the Best-of-Five series. Moose go for their first series win, and Rattlers face elimination for the first time!!! For competitive hockey players, it’s the kind of game you live for!