AMHERST – The Amherst CIBC Wood Gundy Ramblers might be mistaken for the cardiac kids in that they may give their coach, and fans, a massive coronary.
For the second consecutive game, the Ramblers battled back from a two-goal deficit to force overtime and defeat the South Shore Lumberjacks 4-3 in the second extra period on Sunday to force a seventh, and deciding, game in their best-of-seven Eastlink South Division semifinal series.
The Ramblers picked up the win late in the second overtime when veteran defenceman Lucas Sangster’s point shot eluded Lumberjacks goalie MacKenzie Janes to send the Amherst Stadium into a frenzy.
“It’s a big, big win for us,” Ramblers coach and GM Jeff LeBlanc said after the game. “It was a character win, that’s the best way to describe it. Our backs were up against the wall in an elimination game. They were down two goals and they never quit, they never doubted themselves. They had that confidence they were going to tie it up.”
Down 3-1 with less than three minutes to play, Jordan King gave Rambler fans hope when he shoveled a backhander through Janes’ legs to pull Amherst to within a goal. Veteran defenceman Dawson Grenier snuck in from the point to put a rebound home with 21 seconds to force overtime.
There was no scoring in the first overtime and it was beginning to look as though another overtime was in the cards when Sangster scored.
Adam Crowe, Aidan Casey and Jonathan Mason scored for South Shore and Layton Parsons for the Ramblers as the Lumberjacks took a two-goal cushion into the final period. The Ramblers played one of their strongest games on home ice, but could not beat Janes until they finally started getting some bounces late.
Joel Goguen faced 51 shots in the Rambler net and made several key saves when he had to. Janes was equally impressive for the Lumberjacks.
Now, the series turns back to Bridgewater for Monday’s deciding game.
“As big as the win is we’ve already moved on,” LeBlanc said. “We have another big test tomorrow. There are a lot of tired bodies in that dressing room right now, but there are no excuses in the playoffs and we have to win tomorrow night to move on. Winning three games in the playoffs is never easy, but the way we’re looking at it now is we got one game to win.”
In other league action Sunday night, the Truro Bearcats forced a seventh game in Yarmouth on Tuesday with a 6-2 win at the Rath Eastlink Community Centre.
Twitter: @ADNdarrell
