Tonight’s Game Notes:
Welcome fans to tonight’s game four of the MJHL semifinal series featuring the visiting Portage Terriers (1) and your hometown Virden Oil Capitals (5). Tonight’s game is brought to you by Fox Tail Hauling Ltd.
Whatever cliches you have for tonight’s game you can insert them here (insert cliche here). My favourite is, “You have to win four. No one says which four.” Nothing more true applies than that as the Oil Caps backs are against the wall tonight, down 3-0 to the RBC Cup hosts, the Portage Terriers.
First of all, thank you to all the Virden fans that made the trip to Portage for game three of this series on Sunday. When the Oil Caps tied the game at 1-1 and followed that up with a 2-1 lead, the actual crowd noise from in the building was mightily impressive and arguably equal to that of what the Terriers fans provided on home ice.
Unfortunately, the Terriers quickly responded to tie the game at 2-2 and added another before the end of the second period to take a 3-2 lead. The Oil Caps had a great chance to tie the game with about four minutes to play in the third, but Justin Laforest robbed Mack Hardy and kept it a one-goal hockey game. In the final minute with the Oil Caps net empty, Justin Perreaux made a nice move on a Virden defender before sliding the puck into the side of the net giving the Oil Caps a chance to move the puck up ice. However, the Terriers regained possession and Perreaux made no mistake the second time as he sealed the contest 4-2.
There is plenty of positives to take from Sunday’s 4-2 loss. Breaking Laforest’s shut out streak of 247:03 was a good first step. Grabbing their first lead of the series was also a confidence boost for the guys. For the exception of game two where the Terriers gained a 3-0 second period lead, the Oil Caps have been an opportunity or a bounce away from being tied in these contests.
In order for the Oil Caps to stretch this series past tonight, they’re going to need another solid outing from Sean Kuehn who has given the Oil Caps a chance to win each and every night. Secondary scoring will be another must (ie.. Taylor Fisher and Tanner Lewis scoring in Game 3), although the team will take the goals any way they want to come.
If there’s one thing the Oil Caps proved in their first series against the Flyers is that there is no quit in them. Credit that to the 20-year-olds and leadership group in Ben Williams, Jordan Greig, Lucas Oliver, and so on. These guys have bled burgundy, black, and white since day one and you can bet they will put it all out there again tonight. Whatever happens, these guys have shaped the identity of this young organization.
The Can Elson Drilling 50/50 will once again be a GUARANTEED $3,000 payout tonight.Last game saw a lucky winner take home $3,970.
It’d do or die for your Oil Caps. Make some noise and give your team the home-ice advantage they need to extend this series. Enjoy the night!