An Overtime Thriller!

The Marauders jump up into 6th place in the logjammed NHIAA standings with last night's win.  Thanks to Everett Logan again for the game writeup:

The Hanover Marauders took their longest road trip of the year on Wednesday to the cozy confines of the Dover Ice Arena to take on the Saints of St. Thomas Aquinas. After their Saturday night loss to first-place Bishop Guertin, the Marauders looked to get back in the win column and solidify a place in the playoffs. The visitors in maroon provided a roller-coaster ride in a game that looked early like it would be a rout in their favor, only to see the lead evaporate and a heartbreaking loss looming until last-second heroics saved the game. Hanover went on to win the thriller in overtime, 4-3 on Seth Stadheim’s hat trick. 

Hanover looked to put the disappointment of Saturday’s loss behind them quickly and came roaring out of the gate with a ferocious attack. The first line dominated play from the puck drop and keep the action firmly within the Saints’ zone immediately. Only seconds into the game, Elias Zinmann showed his tenacity by outracing a St. Thomas defender to a loose puck in the corner. Zinmann fed the puck to defenseman Patrick Logan at the point. Logan held the puck just long enough to draw the Aquinas wing to him before dishing back to Zinmann, who quickly fed the puck to center Seth Stadheim in the slot. Stadheim wristed home the ice breaker to the blocker side of the goalie at 0:47 of the first period for a 1-0 Hanover lead. 

Hanover continued to dominate play in the period, and St. Thomas found themselves on their heels for most of the early going. With St. Thomas in the penalty box, the Hanover power play unit applied relentless pressure, but couldn’t get the puck past the Saints’ goalie. With time winding down on the man-up, St. Thomas cleared the puck out of their zone to center ice. Power-play point man Stadheim circled back to gather the puck and rushed back toward the Saints goal, splitting two defenders before deking to the backhand and lifting the puck into the net for a 2-0 lead. 

Hanover was denied credit for a third goal in the period when a pinching Logan centered the puck from the side boards to Zinman alone in the slot. “EZ” lifted a backhander as nifty as Stadheim’s into the top of the Saints’ net, but the referee was inexplicably not watching the play and missed the puck clearly hitting the inside of the netting before rebounding out and no goal was called. 

Although Hanover dominated the period, the Saints applied pressure of their own. The defensive play of the period went to Grant Morhun, whose hustle on the back check to lift a St. Thomas forward’s stick at the last second as he received a path on the doorstep of the Hanover goal likely kept the score at 2-0 when the period ended. 

St. Thomas regrouped during the second intermission and came out in the second with tighter defense and significantly limited the Marauder chances. Their opportunity came when unusually disciplined Hanover drew its first penalty of the game with less than two minutes to play in the period. As time wound down, St. Thomas shot the puck on net. Gabe Loud made the initial save, but Hanover was unable to clear the puck or the Saints attackers out of the crease in the ensuing goal-mouth scramble, and Ransom Roberts banged home the puck with only five seconds remaining in the period to get St. Thomas on the board and heading into the second intermission trailing 2-1. 

Hanover drew a roughing penalty after the whistle to end the second, so St. Thomas began the third period with a fresh power play. Despite good pressure, Loud and the penalty kill unit held strong and denied the Saints their equalizer. However, one minute after the penalty expired, Tucker Whitcomb fed the puck up the left wing to a streaking Ryan Gaulin. A Marauder wing attempted a body check, but Gaulin kept his feet moving and blew threw it before cutting toward the net and firing a slap shot past Loud for the equalizer. 

A stunned Hanover bench looked on in disbelief as their early two-goal lead evaporated, but there was still a lot of hockey left to play. Each team had their chances throughout the third, but neither team could break through to gain the lead, as each team’s goaltender proved puzzling to their opponents. However, a defensive breakdown by the Marauders with time winding down looked like it might be the decisive moment of the game. Gaulin fed the puck to Brock Crowley at the right point, and no Hanover forward moved to intercept him or block his shot. With a clean angle on net, he fired a perfect slap shot into the top corner from the right face-off circle to net what appeared to be the game winner for the Saints and the agonizing heartbreaker for the Marauders with only 1:05 left to play in the contest. 

Coach Dodds called a time-out and calmed his shellshocked troops. Hanover won the ensuing face-off and Loud quickly headed to the bench for the extra attacker. Hanover was unable to set-up in the attacking zone, but fortunately kept the puck out of their empty net. With time ticking away, Logan gathered the puck at center ice and rushed it up the right wing boards through two Saints defenders. As he was attempting to cut in toward goal, the second defender pulled him down by his sweater, but not before he was able to push the puck low to Stadheim behind the net. Stadheim circled quickly to the left side of the net and fed the puck to Jake Acker in the low slot who banged it home to tie the score with a mere fifteen second left and send the game to overtime. 

Initially, neither team was able to generate dangerous chances in overtime and the game looked as if it might headed to a reprise of the tie that Hanover and St. Thomas battled to at Campion earlier in the season. However, at just under four minutes remaining in extra time, the Hanover forecheck paid off once again as Stadheim hustled and pestered the St. Thomas breakout causing a Saint defender to surrender the puck along their left wing board. Stadheim stepped behind him, gathered the loose puck, cut toward the net, and wristed home the sudden-death winner with 3:42 left in overtime before being mobbed by his relieved and exuberant teammates. 

Hanover hits the road again on Saturday to take on Trinity at St. Anselm’s college at 7:30.