Frustrating Finale for Rangers

GLANBROOK (Mar. 4) — Faster. Tougher. Tighter. That sums up playoff hockey and it epitomized the Bloomfield Division final Game 2 clash between the Glanbrook Rangers and the Grimsby Peach Kings, a titanic battle that finished with a 4-3 Grimsby overtime victory.

In a game that was intensely emotional, punishingly physical and, for Glanbrook, bitterly disappointing, the Rangers fell behind, then rallied twice before finally surrendering the winning goal to Grimsby’s Mason Gibson at 5:08 of overtime.

As with all meetings between these perennial rivals, the pace from the outset was blistering with end-to-end rushes and ferocious physical battles for any space on the ice. The Rangers had the early edge, but key saves by Grimsby’s Riley Maskell kept Glanbrook off the scoreboard. Grimsby took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Jacob Barnowski at 7:40 of the first period, and that held up until the midway point of the second when Glanbrook’s Noah Bollert broke through on a breakaway and, after being hauled down, continued his momentum along the ice to force the puck past Maskell. It was Bollert’s league-leading 12th goal in 11 post-season games.

The emotional high, however, was soon turned to a deep depression as the Rangers lost their cool somewhat over, first a mistaken icing call (Ranger centre Matt Hogan had clearly touched the puck on the Grimsby side of centre) and various other calls (and non-calls) by the officiating crew.

Glanbrook’s Cooper Hood was assessed a tripping penalty at 12:39 and Ranger captain Noah Matteson was subsequently ejected from the game for questioning it. Ranger defender Erik Nelson soon followed at 13:15 and on the two-man advantage, Grimsby regained the lead on a goal by Jack Venneri. Not much later, the Rangers were called for a bench penalty and Grimsby again scored on the power play to extend their lead to 3-1. Through the first two frames, Glanbrook was penalized seven times to Grimsby’s once.

But despite the setback, the Rangers rallied. Michael Dittrich drove to the net to beat Maskell at 18:33 of the second period, and Glanbrook defenceman Dawson Shackelton brought the Rangers back even when he scored his first playoff goal on a point shot while Glanbrook was on the power play. The battle continued to rage as the clock ticked towards overtime and Maskell and Ranger goalie Matt Lukic fended off drive after drive.

But fortune took a hand in the overtime when an errant clearing attempt in the Ranger zone went to Grimsby’s Matt Gibson whose pinpoint shot just eluded Lukic for the winner at 5:08.

The Peach Kings now take a 2-0 lead home for Game 3 on Friday, Mar. 6 at Peach King Arena, 7:30 p.m.

NOTES: Prior to the game, Glanbrook’s Matteson received the trophy for being the South Bloomfield Division leading scorer in 2019/10. Matteson had 30 goals and 30 assists to top teammate Bollert by one point for the honour … Three of Grimsby’s six goals in the series have come on the power play, while Glanbrook is 1-for-8 on man-advantage opportunities …. Glanbrook forward Connor McQuhae sat out the game with an injury sustained in Game 1.

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