Baskerville gives Griffins OT win over Trojans to keep hopes of first-round bye alive
Zachary Dean / For MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON - Ryan Baskerville was the hero in overtime Saturday night at the Downtown Community Arena, scoring to give the MacEwan Griffins a 3-2 win and a sweep of the weekend series against the SAIT Trojans.
We're at that time of the season when everyone is watching the standings extra closely, and with the four points this weekend, the Griffins now have a two-point gap between themselves and the Trojans for the second seed in the conference and a bye to the semifinals of the playoffs.
"We take definite pride in the fact that we won the weekend," said Griffins head coach Bram Stephen. "There's a possibility there that we play them in the playoffs and that's a team, with the physical matchup, who is tough for us."
However, Stephen wasn't all smiles after the game. SAIT still has four games remaining in the regular season to MacEwan's two and allowing them to earn even a single point could come back to bite them.
"It puts us in a tougher spot to get that first-round bye," said Stephen. "That one point is pretty important because I don't think we have the tiebreaker against them."
MacEwan opened the scoring at the 5:36 mark of the first period when Cameron Gotaas found Shawn Proulx in the slot for a one-timer. Proulx's sixth goal of the season comes just one night after he recorded his 100th career point.
"(Proulx) is biting at the heels of Benny," Stephen said when referring to the milestone. "He had tenacity on the forecheck (and) was good on the penalty kill. He was great for us tonight."
Despite scoring the first goal, it was SAIT who carried the play, out-chancing the Griffins in the first period. Their efforts were rewarded at 14:17 when Michael Lyle received the puck from Tyson McCallum in the right-circle, took one step towards the net and picked the corner above Marc-Olivier Daigle's glove.
The goal appeared to spark the Trojans because just a few minutes later they rang the puck off the cross bar, and then hit the post on the same shift. The puck laid motionless within a couple feet of the goal line but Daigle managed to smother it.
When Joel Hamilton got off a shot in the slot that made it 2-1 for SAIT just 37 seconds into the second period, it felt as though the game might get away from the Griffins.
However, MacEwan grabbed some momentum back 64 seconds later when Baskerville collected a rebound on his back hand and quickly brought it to his forehand to deke out Bolton Pouliot in tight and tie the game 2-2.
"Basky is the hottest guy on our roster," said Stephen. "He's got great finish around the net. Very soft hands and both goals were an example of that."
The two teams traded chances for the rest of the way, but neither team could finish it in regulation.
It didn't take long for MacEwan to put this one away in overtime. When SAIT took a bench minor 45 seconds into the extra-frame, the Griffins went to work on the powerplay. Baskerville deflected the puck into the net at exactly two minutes into overtime. The Trojans argued that winning goal was scored with a high stick, but the referee disagreed and the goal counted.
The Griffins improve to 19-6-1 and extend their winning streak to four games. They sit four points back of NAIT for first in the conference and will be back in action on February 24 against Portage College.
SAIT (17-4-3) next plays a two-game series with Portage Feb. 17-18 before closing out the season against UAlberta-Augustana the following weekend, so the Griffins will need some help to earn the first-round bye.