Saturday,September 24th,2022 Revelstoke 5 Golden 4
Before a good (and loud) hometown crowd on this Saturday evening, the Rockets and Revelstoke put on quite a show in an exciting contest which needed an overtime session, and a “player shootout” to decide a winner. When the smoke finally cleared, it was the defending KIJHL champion Grizzlies prevailing in a 5-4 decision.
The first period opened up with both clubs displaying solid defensive work. Rockets netminder Carson Cairns had the bulk of the work in the opening ten minutes, turning aside no less than eight quality opposition shots from close range. At 14:29, Revelstoke opened the scoring with a Brandon Gallo shot from the right boards, which found its way through a screened Cairns.
In the second period, Golden’s powerplay evened things up at 2:52 when Zac Siudy sent a perfect wristshot to the top corner after being setup on the right wing by Jordan Lario and Liam Furlong. The teams traded powerplay goals midway through the period, with Brady Augot hitting for the visitors and Liam Furlong countering for the Rockets (assisted by Kade Cochlan and Nick Morin).
And then, with just over one minute left in the frame, Golden grabbed the lead at 3-2 with a tic-tac-toe passing play from Zac Siudy to Kylow Monkman to Nick Morin left unattended at the side of the net, who made no mistake tucking the puck behind Grizzlies goalie Owen Albers. That lead held until the 4:22 mark of the final period before Ethan Mattern struck for the equalizer.
With about six minutes left in regulation time, both clubs were assessed minor penalties within seconds of each other. And, in the resulting 4-on-4 play, Revelstoke took a quick lead at 14:07 with a Brady Schwab goal, countered quickly just nine seconds later by Rockets’ speedy right winger Nick Morin’s second of the game (setup by Kade Cochlan). As the clock wound down towards the end of regulation, the action on the ice opened up and was intense. At the 16:05 mark, Revelstoke’s Carter Bettenson was awarded a penalty-shot, but was stymied by Cairns on an attempted deke. The third period ended deadlocked at 4-4.
In the 5-minute overtime session, the best opportunity for either club came on a Grizzlies breakaway, with Carson Cairns once again standing tall between the pipes for the Rockets.
It took no less than twelve players in the final shootout to decide the winner in this contest, when Ethan Mattern’s tally in the 6th round gave the visitors the win. Shots in the game were 34-24 for Revelstoke. Rockets will be on the road next weekend for games against North Okanagan and Summerland.
