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Blizzard Outlast Bruins In Thrilling 7-6 Overtime Loss

November 7, 2010 - All American Hockey League (AAHL)
Troy Bruins News Release


Dyer, Indiana - The Indiana Blizzard would need more than the allotted regulation time to squeak out a lucky 7-6 overtime victory over the Troy Bruins inside the Midwest Center in Dyer, Indiana on Sunday evening.

Playing on a much larger "Olympic size" ice surface for the first time this season, the Bruins found themselves at a disadvantage early on, with the Blizzard taking advantage to the extra room along the wings and corners. With the home crowd into the game from the start, Indiana would beat the Bruins to the puck in their own zone for a quick point-blank shot past the shoulder of Troy's starting netminder Rob Mattison to take the 1-0 lead just prior to the midway point of the first period. The Bruins worked consistently throughout the period to get comfortable with their surroundings, getting great scoring chances as the time wore down, yet would be unable to find their way past Indiana's Spencer Padfield, who handled all Bruins shots in the first twenty minutes.

Troy would open up the second period with authority, with Beavercreek native Lee McClure wasting little time in setting up Bruins captain Todd McIlrath for a top shelf goal to tie the game less than three minutes into the frame. Not to be outdone, a scramble in front of the Blizzard net would set up Dan Morini's first goal as a Bruin to take the 2-1 lead at the 15:15 mark, before Troy would find their third unanswered goal less than two minutes later off a wrister from the far point through a screen, giving McIlrath his second lamplighter of the night and his Troy squad the 3-1 lead with 13:51 to go. As it sometimes happens, the flow of the game, which was controlled by the Bruins since the start of the period, strangely switched near the midway point of the stanza, led by an awkward angle shot from the near boards that beat Bruins netminder Rob Mattison five-hole to close the gap to one at 11:04, before the Blizzard would tie the tilt 3-3 just :36 later beating the Bruins on a 2-on-1 rush at 10:28. Taking charge, Troy's Lee McClure led his team with a rebound chance on the side of the Blizzard goal, allowing teammate Josh Swenson the chance to "tap it in" to recapture the lead 4-3 with 9:16 showing on the clock. Again, crashing the net would work wonders for Rick Szabo's Troy Bruins, this time extending the lead through good old fashioned hard work in the crease, with Chris Tasic knocking in the puck for the 5-3 lead with 8:30 to go in the middle period. Physicality escalated as time wore on, and Indiana would strike one final time with a little over a minute remaining before the intermission to make it an exciting 5-4 contest after forty minutes.

In true barnburner fashion, the third period would not disappoint either team, with the Blizzard notching two goals in the first ten minutes of play to take a 6-5 lead by the 12:20 mark. As the game had been all evening, the Bruins came back to tie the game once more with Tasic feeding Moore for the evening score at 9:15. With good end to end rushes, and a handful of powerplays on both sides, the game would end up tied 6-6 going to the final horn at the end of sixty minutes of hard hitting hockey...needing an extra period.

In the five minute sudden-death period, both teams would utilize all of the available ice surface playing 4 on 4 hockey, but the game would ultimately come down to a rush up the far wing with mere seconds left in the overtime, beating Mattison for the Blizzard's 7-6 game winner, sealing the final score.

With the overtime loss, the Bruins pick up one point, and set their record to 2-2-1 closing out the weekend on the road. The Bruins return to action next Thursday evening as they travel to in-state rival Queen City before coming home to the historic Hobart Arena in Troy to host the Wooster Korn Kings on Friday and Saturday nights at 8pm. Advance tickets for next weekend's home series can be purchased online for only $8 by visiting www.TroyBruins.com.

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