RANGERS CAME IN HOT BUT FINISHED JUST SHORT OF A WIN IN OVERTIME LOSS

An abundance of penalties, two teams that clearly can’t stand each other, an entire line fight and 36 shots on goal overall are just a few ways to describe the Wednesday night game. Glanbrook Rangers hosted the Port Dover Sailors and despite their best efforts, came up short in overtime losing 5-4.

Let’s get ready to rumble played over the speakers as the Glanbrook Rangers and Port Dover Sailors made their way onto the ice, and a rumble it was.

“[The sailors] just picked up a bunch of new bodies,” said head coach of the Glanbrook Rangers before the game started.

“They should be ready to go.”

15 seconds into the first period #17 Daniel Vella for Glanbrook found himself in the penalty box for interference, giving the Sailors an early advantage. The Rangers stuck on the Sailors and managed to kill the penalty without giving away any goals.

The teams were noticeably aggressive halfway through the first period and from lack of counting on the Sailor’s bench, too many men on the ice landed them in the box, returning the favour to the Rangers and giving them the advantage.

It was evident the Rangers were outplaying the Sailors in the first period; they had control over the puck and did a good job keeping it in the opposing end. After 18 shots and keeping the Sailors goalie on his toes, #14 Justin Vermeulen managed to sneak in a goal with 24 seconds left in the period, putting them in the lead 1-0.

“Ice is ready, let’s go guys” could be heard outside the Ranger’s change room as they were getting ready to step back on the ice for the second period.

Two minutes into the second period and you guessed it, another penalty for the Sailors, giving the Rangers the man advantage again, only this time it worked in their favour. #14 Justin Vermeulen scored his second of the night, setting the score 2-0.

At this point tensions are starting to rise, penalty after penalty and a big hit sent Rangers #10 Jacob Melko to do a literal flip over a sailor player’s shoulders and slammed onto the ice, causing him to take a minute before getting back up.

Rangers asserted dominance by scoring yet another unanswered goal by #7 Hunter McGilvery, putting 3-0 on the scoreboard.

Despite outshooting and outskating the Sailors, they managed to get two quick goals, one after another, bringing the score to 3-2 right before the end of the second.

Starting the third period with a one-goal advantage, one thought on everyone’s mind, “Can they keep the lead?”

As they chip and chase the puck into the opposing end, the Sailors grow more aggressive as the game progresses, and you can feel the tension in the air from the stands.

The sailors are quick to get a breakaway but are stopped stone cold by a butterfly save from Ranger’s goalie #31 Jason Sviergula.

Halfway through the third period #9, Ryan Burke put another one in the net, making the score 4-2. This was the tipping point for #20 on the Sailors, who proceeded to get in the face of a Rangers player drop his mitts and start at it. Before anything could be done about it, the whole line was fighting, 5 on 5, every player on the line had someone to fight.

Helmets were off, gloves were flying through the air, coaches shouting from the bench, and even a ref got clocked in the face while trying to break it up.

#20 of the Sailors, Gavyn Buch was thrown out of the game for instigating the fight.

After the refs made all the calls and determined who would be in the box the game continued and another fight almost broke out between the teams. The refs tossed another Sailor’s player and put a Rangers player in the box and the game kept rolling.

Three minutes left of the third period and the Sailors scored two unanswered goals back-to-back, sending the teams to overtime with a score of 4-4.

Over time started 3-on-3, with the Rangers maintaining great control of the puck. They went back and forth for 6 minutes and with 24 seconds left on the clock the Sailors managed to put the puck in the net, beating the Glanbrook Rangers 5-4, despite their best efforts.

“They had the advantage after that fight,” Miket said. “We made two mistakes and they capitalized on that.”

The Rangers put up a fight with 36 shots on goal throughout the game and the Sailors with 22.