Kelowna Chiefs' defenceman Mitchell Steinke walks in for a shorthanded goal against Coyotes' goaltender Darren Hogg during a game at the Sun Bowl Arena on Saturday, Feb. 25. The Coyotes won the game by a score of 9-3, tying the series at 1-1. The Coyotes whipped Kelowna 8-5 Monday night to take the series lead, but blew a late three-goal lead Tuesday and lost 6-5 in triple overtime to even the series at 2-2. Game five is set for Thursday night in Osoyoos. Photo by Mathew White
After suffering a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to the Kelowna Chiefs Friday night to kick off the playoffs, the Osoyoos Coyotes regrouped and completely destroyed the Chiefs Saturday, taking game two in the Okanagan Division semi-finals by a score of 9-3.
“We sure turned it around from our last game to this,” said Craig Lewis, assistant coach with the Coyotes. “We’re very happy with the way the guys are performing. Everybody was doing their job and that’s the way we’re going to do it from now on.”
The good news continued Monday night as the Coyotes went on another scoring binge and recaptured home ice advantage in the process by romping to an 8-5 victory in Game Three at Rutland.
Momentum switched dramatically again Tuesday night as the Coyotes had a 5-2 lead with less than nine minutes remaining in regulation time, only to allow three goals in just over four minutes, before dropping a heartbreaking 6-5 decision in triple overtime Tuesday night at the Rutland Arena.
Coyotes had a 5-2 lead with less than nine minutes remaining in regulation time, only to allow three goals in a span of 4:35, prior to eventually losing 6-5 in triple overtime, Tuesday night at the Rutland Arena. The result leaves the Okanagan Division Best-of-Seven Semi-Final Playoff Series deadlocked at two wins apiece.
Brandon Watson scored the lone goal of the opening period, putting Osoyoos up 1-0 after one.
Despite surrendering a pair in the second, the Coyotes responded with two of their own from Dexter Dances, as well as an Alex Jewell tally, to take a seemingly comfortable 4-2 advantage into the dressing room following 40 minutes of play.
When Alex Jewell notched a shorthanded goal, his second of the night, with just over 10 minutes left in the third, it appeared as though Osoyoos was headed for 3-1 series lead and chance to finish things off at home on Thursday. However, the tide turned in a hurry as the Chiefs battled back to tie the contest 5-5 and eventually force sudden death.
Not without its fair share of chances on both sides, the game remained scoreless through a 10 minute and 20 minute overtime period.
The Coyotes got caught up ice, paying the ultimate price when Kyle Clerke beat Darren Hogg, 5:22 into the third overtime session, drawing Kelowna even in the series and bringing new life to a team that looked destined to face elimination 48 hours later.
Alex Jewell added two assists to his two goal effort. After scoring a goal in Game Three on Monday night, Darren Hogg contributed another helper on Jewell’s shorthanded effort, giving him four points in three games.
Both Dane Rupert and Brent Lashuk had two goals and two assists for the Chiefs.
Four of Osoyoos’s five makers came on special teams, three while on the powerplay and one shorthanded.
Cole Buckley played a perfect first period in the Coyotes net, before giving way to Darren Hogg for the rest of the marathon.
The final shot totals showed 58-40 in favour of Kelowna, albeit a question-able disparity as is sometimes the case on the road.
The Osoyoos Coyotes will have to dust themselves off and get ready for Game Five on Thursday night, back the Sun Bowl Arena. That’s expected to mark the return of defenceman Beau Browning, who has been sidelined the past three games as the result of an eye infection.
Brandon Watson, Dexter Dancs and Scotty Patterson, with his first of two, gave Osoyoos a 3-0 cushion after one period of play Monday night.
The Coyotes faltered a bit in the second, allowing three goals, but still managed a pair of their own, from Andrew Stack and Thierry Martine, to pull in front 5-3 following 40 minutes.
Scotty Patterson’s second of the contest, along with a Brock Anderson tally, made it 7-3. However, the pesky Chiefs scored two powerplay goals just 32 seconds apart to get to within two at 7-5, with more than half a period remaining.
What happened next is a rarity in the game of hockey. On a Kelowna powerplay in the dying seconds, with goaltender Tyler O’Donnell on the bench in favour of an extra attacker, Osoyoos backstop Darren Hogg got hold of the puck deep in his own end, lifting it high in air, sending it all the way down the ice, into the Chiefs net.
Hogg’s unusual feat, combined with two assists in one period of game two, gives him three points in his last two outings.
Osoyoos was forced to play without Alex Jewell, who returned Tuesday night in Rutland, after serving a one game suspension.
Lewis said the players simply put more effort into Saturday night’s win compared to Friday’s loss.
“I think our guys were just sitting back and thinking that this is a fourth-place team coming … but we were flying on both wings today.”
Alex Jewell opened up the scoring Saturday night with a great rebound shot off a shot from rookie Dexter Dancs about five minutes into the first.
After Kelowna was forced to skate down two men, Jordan Simpson finally managed to put one between the pipes to give the hometown squad a 2-0 lead they would never relinquish.
But the Coyotes weren’t done there. Still up a man and with only seven seconds left on the power play, Steve Sasyniuk slipped another one past Tyler O’Donnell, giving the pack a 3-0 lead going into the second.
The Coyotes continued to prove why their power-play line is the best in the league. With literally one second left on the power play, Scotty Patterson put in his first of the night, giving the pack its third power-play goal in less than 20 minutes.
“That’s the way it works sometimes,” said Lewis. “Eventually you put it together and it just works.”
Not wanting to go down without a fight, Kelowna finally managed to get on the board with a goal by T.J. Dumonceaux two minutes into the second.
The pack answered right back though with a great goal by Brandon Watson, forcing the Chiefs to replace starting goaltender O’Donnell with Connor Wilkinson.
Soon after that things started to get a bit chirpy, leading to Osoyoos’ second penalty of the night. But despite being down a man, the pack was out for blood, and after a bad turnover in the Coyotes’ zone and with Alex Fortin hot on his heels, Patterson went flying into the Chiefs’ zone and zapped one past Wilkinson for the first short-handed goal of the night.
With a minute left on the clock, and on yet another power-play, Sasyniuk blasted in a curve ball from the blue line, making it a 7-1 game going into the final period, but not before the Chiefs would take their 17th penalty of the game to finish out the second.
As if the referees forgot their whistles in the dressing room, the third period started out with seven minutes of uninterrupted action for the first time all night.
“I’m glad that they allowed it to go, allowed it to flow at the end of the game,” said Lewis.
As the period reached the halfway point, the Coyotes continued to increase their lead with a bouncing goal by Dancs.
After a barrage of shots, the Chiefs finally put their second past Hogg, who went on to take home second star of the night.
“Hogg was absolutely outstanding,” said Lewis. “I think Hogg should have got the first and the second star. We’re very happy with how he is playing lately.”
With nine minutes left in the game, a clearly frustrated Grant Sheridan,
Kelowna’s assistant coach and general manager, was tossed for gross misconduct.
He will not be allowed back on the bench for a minimum of three games.
“If he can’t control himself he shouldn’t be on the bench and I’m glad he was thrown out,” said Lewis.
Thierry Martine put in his first of the night a minute later with a shot out of nowhere, and with just over two minutes left, the Chiefs’ Mitchell Steinke walked in short handed for the game’s final goal.
Looking ahead to game three in Kelowna, Lewis said by sticking to their game plan, there’s no reason the boys shouldn’t come out on top.
“This is our game right now. This is how we play and how we will play for the rest of the playoffs,” said Lewis.
If a sixth game is necessary in this series, it would be played Friday night in Kelowna.
If a seventh-and-deciding contest is needed, it would be played Saturday evening at the Sun Bowl Arena here in Osoyoos, with game time at 7:35 p.m.
