Granite City Lumberjacks 3 - Hudson Crusaders 2
Shoot-out final
Merry Christmas Lumberjacks fans! The losing streak is gone! The streak came to a screeching halt Saturday afternoon when the Lumberjacks defeated the Hudson Crusaders 3-2 in a shootout. This action packed game gave fans an entertaining early Christmas present and the chance for fans to capture the Lumberjacks first victory over the inaugural Crusaders.
Like most recent games, the Lumberjacks found themselves grabbing an early lead with a power play goal at 3:02. #07 Tyler Sura would pass the puck back to #06 Carl Lindblad who would blast a shot past opposing netminder Adam Buegler. The forecast for a victory became clearer 5 minutes later when Monticello native, #08 Matt Krueger, would score an even strength goal from teammate #17 Nick Ellis. The Lumberjacks would hold a slight 7-6 shots lead after the period; however, the two goal lead was exactly what the team needed.
The first few minutes of the second period belonged to nobody as play became really sloppy. No real puck support or crisp passes kept the puck adjacent to neutral zone. The Crusaders would break through at the 7:30 mark with a goal from Kyle Romanchuk. The Crusaders would go on to outshoot the Lumberjacks 10-6, but were unable to slip another one past #30 Justin Lochner.
The third period opened much like the second period. No team really took control of the team, thus allowing both teams’ benches to jump up and down upon every scoring chance. The next goal was going to be huge and the teams knew the momentum would shift towards the team who could score next. At 12:39, the Crusaders would knot the game at 2 with a point deflection from forward Colin Barnauskas. The Lumberjacks would regain the momentum by using a hard for-check. This hard determination kept the game tied until the end of regulation. The Lumberjacks would outshoot the Crusaders 12-11 in the period.
The OT session would come to a conclusion without the scoreboard having to be readjusted. Each team had two or three scoring chances, but both goalies stood stagnant.
A crazy shootout ultimately would end up in the Lumberjacks victory, but not without some confusion on the ice. The Crusaders would carry a 2-1 shootout lead until #16 Paul Hawthorne beat Buegler blocker side making it 2-2. The next Crusader’s player would come up empty. #09 Sean Kenny would score the game-winner with a beautiful shimmy shake move; however, the referees did not realize that the Crusaders had one more player remaining and let the teams go. The teams would disperse of the benches and fans would start to leave before the referee made all the teams come back out and finish the shootout. Eventually, the Crusaders player would miss the net and the Lumberjacks would win the game… again.
The final game of the season series versus the Crusaders will be tonight in Hudson. The Crusaders lead the season series 4-1.