Kootenay steals Game one in OT

The Kootenay Ice traded offensive blows with the WHL's highest scoring team in the playoffs and survived when Cody Eakin scored the biggest goal of the playoffs for the Ice with the 6-5 overtime winner Friday night in Medicine Hat.

The Tigers have the highlites up on their website here.

Some thoughts...

What a see-saw battle! Matt Fraser, with two goals and two assists, kept pace with his scoring nemisis on the other side, Linden Vey had two goals and an assist, in the scoring race. Both now continue to lead the WHL post-season with 12 goals. Emerson Etem was money with two goals and two assists while Max Reinhart had a goal and two helpers.

I'll be honest, the Eakin-King-Boomer line was victimized all night by the Tigers big line. The +/- for the big line was -5 combined but to be honest the stats guys were out to lunch a bit, giving Eakin a minus on the Etem power play goal that went in off his skate. That was fixed later.

That power play goal changed the tide of a 3-1 game but the real turning point was the unconscious save Tyler Bunz made on Max Reinhart. His out-stretched glove stopped it from becoming 4-1 with all the momentum Kootenay's way.

Then the Etem power play goal, and then Vey tied it and the tide turned. The Tigers went up 4-3 on a nice goal by Etem when Dirk couldn't tie him up on the rush.

Then Fraser rips his 11th to tie at four but Hamilton puts the Tigers up 5-4 with ten left.

Whew... That set up the finish...

With the Ice pressing a very rare play in which the Tigers took two penalties on one play. Heading off on a change big Cole Grbavac caught Steele Boomer with a blind-side hit that spun him to the ice. With the Tigers flat-footed, Joe Antilla picked up the puck and drove the net. Theriau tripped him and the Tigers were down 5-on-3 with three minutes to go.

On the ensuing power play only a gaffe by Tiger D Jace Coyle at the blueline that didn't get the puck out enabled Max Reinhart to skate in and find Fraser to tie it.

In overtime Nathan Lieuwen stopped six shots, three of the heart-stopping kind on a scramble started when Hayden Rintoul sent a pass up the middle to Kellan Tochkin, before Cody Eakin took a pass intercepted by Joe Antilla. Eakin deked Thomas Carr and then ripped a trademark bullet past Bunz from the slot for the OT win and a 1-0 series lead.

The match-ups the Tigers are getting on home-ice are working. Vey and Etem's speed is giving Eakin-King-Boomer fits but I wonder if the McNabb-Rintoul match-up's a better fit instead of Leach-Martin. Etem's speed was the difference and Leach had a tough time with it. Though all three pairings were scored on tonight. The other two Tiger goals were on the power play.

Only the Ice it would seem could get away with a win after completely abandoning their game in the second period. A 3-1 lead to play with Kootenay's structure defensive game turned into a high-octane, run and gun show that didn't work out so well.

I still think that third line of Ismond-Czerwonka-Pearce line was better than Tochkin, Bredo and Owuya. With Boomer hurt it's an easy choice to move Benoit up. He ripped his first of the playoffs tonight and almost set up another with some good speed. Ismond will likely move up to the King-Eakin line Saturday if Boomer can't go, meaning Adam Rossignol could check into the line-up.

Speaking of power plays... If you're in the box against these guys you'll pay for it. The Tigers were 2-6.

The goaltending was good, great, not-so-great, unbelievable, and then not so much, in that order. Both Bunz and Lieuwen were great tonight but Lieuwen was great later when needed. Kootenay held Saskatoon to five goals all series and the Tigers potted five tonight. I can't see success trading hay-maker's like this all series. Upon further review I thought Nathan didn't have one of his better nights but really, those highlites have him making some dandies. For a game that had 11 goals, both goaltenders were really good.

Grbavac's hit on Boomer could draw supplement discipline. The Ice will ask but I don't think there'll be more. It was blind-side for sure. I'm wondering if Boomer's got a concussion with his history and that was an elbow to the head.

Does the Eakin OT goal open up the gates for the star?

More later...