Come From Behind Win For Delta

Submitted by League Reporter, Jen Mutas

For the second time this week the BCJALL would have another match-up where overtime was needed. Thursday night the Thunder took advantage of a power play opportunity to win their game with the Lakers, and Saturdays game between the Islanders and Saints would also come down to a power play winning goal.

You could feel the tension between the teams from the stands, both teams wanted to get physical but as cliché as it is, staying out of the penalty box would be the key to winning this game.

Delta came out unusually slow in the first with only one goal from Jason Jones on the power play, compared to Poco’s four markers. The Saints played a tight defensive game in the first, with their most important defender Tyson Cornfield facing eighteen shots in the first period alone. 

With a 4-1 cushion heading into the second, Poco played protective but Delta managed to throw two goals past Cornfield, one from Brian Jette and one from Jason Jones. Brennan Galbraith would be the special teams master for Poco in the second, scoring both on the power play and short handed to keep a four goal lead for the Saints.

The Islanders must have had a serious chat in the dressing room between the second and third periods because they came out on a mission. Mitch Jones got the ball rolling just a minute in, followed closely by Carlton Schuss, Drew Duncan, and Jette to tie the game at seven. With just under seven minutes to go in the game the concentration by both teams to get the go ahead goal made for some intense action. Mitch Jones would throw in his second of the night to give Delta their first lead of the game, but Ryan Kwasnica would score a very timely goal for Port Coquitlam to tie it up at eight, save the Saints, and send this game to overtime.

The ten minute overtime would start out with a three minute goalie extravaganza; looking at the box score doesn’t do Cornfield and Bourget any justice for the overtime frame, both goalies made great saves and were in on the plays when they needed to be. After end to end fast breaks for both teams, the Saints would succumb to more penalty trouble which would cost them the game. The Islander power play was doing a lot of cycling around the net much to their fans chagrins, but waiting for the perfect opportunity would pay off for Delta and Jason Jones would put in two power play goals to edge the Saints 10-9.

The Islanders have worked out the kinks from past years and started the 2009 season out with a .500 record, sitting second in league scoring, and third place overall behind Coquitlam and Victoria. An impressive stat from their first four games is their shots on goal, 216 altogether averaging 54 per game; only being out shot 42-43 by Burnaby in week two. Delta is also taking advantage of their power play opportunities with 18 PPG so far this year, a huge improvement considering their total goals with the man advantage last season (21 games) was 35.