Tabarnak!
That's probably what the country's original voyageurs would have said to describe the feeling of the oh-so-almost efforts of the Portage College Voyageurs in their two weekend games against the NAIT Ooks.
The Voyageurs lost a nail-biter of a game 2-1 on Saturday night that needed an extra five-minute overtime period on Ooks home ice. The sudden death loss came just 24 hours after Portage lost a double-overtime, 4-3 decision, to the Ooks the night before at the Bold Center.
The overtime finishes weren't the only similarities to the weekend results. In both games, the Ooks capitalized on early-game penalty calls against Portage. Two powerplay goals lead the way for the Ooks in Friday's game, and Saturday also saw the first goal from NAIT scored with Portage a player short. The difference on Saturday was the penalty was a bench minor for too many men, not a hooking or slashing call like on Friday. Brayden Dale also scored the first goal for the Voyageurs in both games, home and away, and in both games, the Voyageurs out-shot their opponents. On Friday, the Voyageurs fired 44 shots on the Ooks net — On Saturday, they had 40.
Despite the efforts, and fewer power play chances for the opponents, the Voyageurs did rack up 28 minutes of penalties in the game, compared to just 16 for the Ooks. The Voyageurs penalties included two 10-minute misconducts issued to players Spencer Kennedy and Brody Dale in the third period.
In the Voyageurs' net for Saturday's game, Jacob Gnidziejko faced 39 shots. The final shot — the game winning goal for the Ooks— came at the 3:23 mark of the first five minute overtime period.
For more details on Friday nights game go to www.lakelandtoday.ca for that recap.
The overtime loss is the third-straight OT defeat for the Voyageurs, who have upped their offence and speed in recent games.
The weekend overtime losses still earned the Voyageurs much-needed single points in the standings, moving them ahead of last-place Concordia at the bottom of the seven-team ACAC league. The Voyageurs currently have four points in their first 8 games of the season. The overtime wins keep NAIT in fourth place.
Thunder rolls in
Next up for Portage is a chance to extend their lead over Concerdia, as they have two games with the Thunder during the Remembrance Day weekend. The Friday, November 11 game is in Edmonton, followed by the re-match game in Lac La Biche on Saturday. The Saturday home game starts at 7 pm. according to the ACAC website schedule.