Incredible Goaltending Pushes Game Two to Triple OT

EDMONTON, AB (March 11th, 2023) - Concordia University of Edmonton (CUE) Thunder hosted the Red Deer Kings for game two of the three-game semi-finals series. Game one was a back-and-forth battle, Thunder with the two-goal comeback in the third period, pushed the game into double overtime where CUE will earn the victory 5-4. Tonight's game was another insane battle between both teams. We witnessed incredible goaltending that pushed the game all the way to triple overtime. After 98 minutes of play, Kings will take the game two victory 5-4. The series will continue tomorrow afternoon in Red Deer to determine who moves to the finals against the NAIT Ooks.

In the first period, we saw both teams come out strong offensively. The pace off the start was extremely fast, and there were tons of opportunities both ways. Thunder opened up the scoring with #28 Grayson Reid scoring 9 minutes in.  Shortly after, Reid continues his playoff hot streak scoring the second goal of the game, 30 seconds into the second period on the powerplay.

The Kings looked to even things out in the second period, and #12 Nolan Doell puts one in the back of the net to make it 2-1. Not long after Red Deer able to tie things up with #51 Easton Haygarth scoring with a little over 10 minutes left. Late into the second period, CUE #17 Gabe Odowichuk regains the lead scoring with less than a minute to play and it was 3-2. The Kings #12 Nolan Doell with his second of the night had a quick response tie things up for a second time, 20 seconds after, and the second period finishes 3-3.

In the third period, the Kings gain their first lead of the night after #11 Chance Longjohn finds the open slot making it 4-3. Similar to the second period, Thunder ties things up 4-4 with #11 Lukas Konashuk scoring less than 20 seconds after the Kings.

The game goes into overtime with a score of 4-4. The intensity of the game heats up after multiple penalties. The game stayed even as we saw the last line of defense stand strong, both goaltenders with incredible saves pushing the game forward. Thunder were able to kill three powerplays in three overtimes, but the Kings come out on top, scoring the game-winning goal, #9 Jake Wozney, finishing the game after 98 minutes of play.

The series will go to the third game to determine the winner of the semifinal tomorrow afternoon at 4:30 PM in Red Deer. Tune into ACACTV or TELUS Optik channel 1998 to cheer on the Concordia Thunder for the final matchup of the semifinals.