All About OT

Submitted by League Reporter, Jen Mutas

With their last game being a 17-5 thrashing at the hands of the undefeated Salmonbellies on Tuesday, the Langley Thunder were looking to their previous home game as inspiration for Thursdays match against the Burnaby Lakers. Sunday night the Thunder hosted the Shamrocks in a game that would eventually go to overtime and Langley would collect their second win of the 2010 season, matching their combined wins from the last two seasons in the BCJALL. The Lakers last game was also encouraging, as they managed to hold the Salmonbellies to a tie on Sunday night in Burnaby.

A good start would be vital in this game, followed up by another favourite cliché of playing a full sixty minutes. The Thunder got the start they wanted versus the Lakers, as their leading scorer Reegan Comeault made good on their first drive as he pulled back his original shot on Brodie MacDonald and put it in over the goalies right shoulder. Two more goals from Chase and Colton Porter would build the momentum for Langley, but towards the end of the period the Lakers would start to heat up. With just a minute and a half to go in the period, Jishan Sharples would break the three goal tie and send the Lakers to the break with the marginal one goal lead.

Good defensive work and smart goaltending from Keenan Lambright was the key to the Thunders success in the first period; in the second their offense kept the ball rolling with three goals at regular strength and two on the power play. Leading his team in goals Jaxson Lee put his twenty first of the season past Lambright but as the period wound down, this time it was Langley who would go into the break with the slim one goal lead.

By the third period both teams knew what the other was capable of, and the goals dwindled down along with the time in the game. Jordan Jarvis would get called for roughing, but Jackson Decker would pump up the Lakers with a shorthanded goal started with a great feed from MacDonald who was thinking ahead after he made a key save on the dangerous Langley power play. Jaxson Lee would follow up by scoring on the power play, and just like Sunday at the Langley Events Center, the game would be tied at eight after regulation and require an overtime period.

Versus Victoria the Thunder scored three goals in OT and were hoping for another repeat performance against the Lakers who proved they weren’t going to let Langley run away with the game. Despite a low shot tally from the beginning of the game (at the end of sixty minutes the Thunder outshot Burnaby 53 to 34) the Lakers managed seven shots on Lambright in the ten minute overtime, which happened to be just three shots short of their total for the third period alone.

Jishan Sharples would play the role of hero for Burnaby as he scored the first (and winning) goal of the overtime to give the Lakers the win with a final score of 11-9 and a much needed two points to break away from Nanaimo in the standings.

It’s always tough to take a positive from a loss, but Langley should be happy they played (in my personal opinion) one of their most complete games of the season. Offense, defense, and goaltending were all working together in good order, and it was refreshing to see that kind of play last a full three periods from the Thunder, loss or not.