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Majors stun Battalion

January 20, 2012 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Mississauga St. Michael's Majors News Release


There were plenty of dramatics for the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors at the Hershey Centre on Friday night.

The Majors rallied from a 4-2 third period deficit, tying the game with 41 seconds left, before Justin Rasmussen scored the game-winning goal in the eighth round of the shootout to stun the Brampton Battalion 5-4 in Ontario Hockey League play.

Riley Brace's third goal of the game and fourth point of the night came at 19:19 of the third period on the power play with goalie Brandon Maxwell on the bench for another extra attacker to tie it and send the game to the shootout.

Kristoff Kontos added a goal and two assists and Maxwell made 34 saves as the Majors were out-shot 38-21 in regulation and overtime. The Majors improved to 21-18-1-5 with the victory and moved into sole possession of sixth place in the Eastern Conference. Remarkably the Majors are also now just one point out of fourth place behind Sudbury and Barrie.

"It was a tremendous game tonight, and I really liked the resiliency our team showed," Mississauga General Manager/Coach James Boyd said. "Our power play was excellent tonight, and we're starting to see some chemistry with some of our lines.

"Riley Brace was Johnny on the Spot, scoring goals that goal scorers do, and we all showed a never say die attitude.

"You can go from the penthouse to the outhouse in a hurry in this league. We're embracing that, every game is like a playoff game. I like the attitude of our guys and we're playing some pretty good hockey."

Sam Carrick scored twice and Alex O'Neil and Patrik Machac added singles for the Battalion, while Keegan Wilson made 17 saves.

Brampton dominated the opening period and Carrick scored the only goal at 12:48 of the first period, as the Battalion out-shot the Majors 13-3.

Kontos tied the game at 4:10 of the second period and Brace's first of the night at 11:18 on the power play gave the Majors their first lead. But goals 22 seconds apart by Machac and O'Neill later in the period made it 3-2 for the visitors.

Carrick added his second of the game at 17:30 on a Brampton power play to give the Battalion a 4-2 lead after 40 minutes, with a 30-8 shot advantage as well.

But the Majors didn't quit and the third period was all Mississauga, as the Majors out-shot Brampton 12-6 and got two more goals from Brace, at 13:47 and his game-tying goal in the final minute, to send the game to overtime.

The extra five minutes solved nothing and the Majors scored three times to Brampton's two in the eight-round shootout to give Mississauga the extra point.

The Majors were 2-for-6 against the best penalty killing team in the OHL with the extra man, while Brampton went 1-for-4 on the power play.

Mississauga hosts the Saginaw Spirit Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Hershey Centre. Tickets are available at the Hershey Centre box office or online at www.ticketmaster.ca.

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