Hillier slams home the overtime winner. | Photo by: Colin Peddle
It will all come down to one game. With a 5-4 overtime victory, the Mark’s Work Wearhouse Mount Pearl Junior Blades and Junior Celtics will battle it out in a game 7 to decide their semi-final series.
Kyle Pardy opened the scoring for the Celtics in the first period. The Celtics controlled most of the play in the first period, but Brandon McDonald tied the game before the end of the frame. The second period was controlled by the Blades, Steve Bailey scored a power play tally 3:33 into the 2nd and Aaron Schwartz made the game 3-1 at the midway mark. With just 2 minutes left in the period, a hit against the boards behind the Celtics net caused a pane of glass to shatter and play to be suspended. When play resumed after a delay, the momentum had shifted. Shawn Roberts scored before the end of the 2nd and Pardy tied it up with his second of he game 9:33 into the third. Chris Ryan put the Celtics ahead just 46 seconds after the Pardy goal, making the game 4-3. As the clock was winding down, the Blades Lucas Dearing was kicked out of the game for checking from behind while the Blades were on a power play, meaning the play was now 4-on-4. With 1:31 left in regulation, Mark Hand and Paul Mitchelmore broke in on a 2-on-1 and Mitchelmore converted a pass from Hand to tie the game and send it into overtime. This set the stage for Luc Hillier. Just 1:38 into overtime, a scramble in front of the Celtics goal came out with Hillier scoring the game winning goal for the Blades, forcing a seventh and deciding game. Blades goalie Nick Rodway kept his team in this game once again, as he made many game-saving saves, and was once again named Jungle Jim’s Player of the Game as he made 37 saves in earning the ‘W’, Celtics goalie Andrew Stanford received Player of the Game for he Visiting Team.
Game 7 will be played Sunday night at O’Hehir arena at 7:45 pm. The winner of the game will then play the St.John’s Caps in the league finals.
Click for Larger View | Photo by: Colin Peddle
