For 50 minutes, the Olds Grizzlys played nearly flawless shutout hockey against the visiting Drumheller Dragons on Jan. 31.
Breakaway goals from Austin Kernahan in the first period at the 14:10 mark and Ty Mappin at 3:12 in the second frame gave the Grizzlys a 2-0 lead and it looked as though Olds would have its revenge for the 5-3 loss the Dragons handed them on Jan. 28.
But in the third period, Drumheller made the Grizzlys pay for Nikolas Koberstein's slashing penalty when Mitchell Cook was able to catch a rebound just beyond Olds netminder Jake Tamagi's stick and drive the Dragons' first goal of the game home at the 9:17 mark on the power play.
With one minute and 11 seconds left to go in regulation time, Drumheller's Rory Davidson blasted a long shot through four Grizzlys defenders to tie the game and it didn't take more than 30 seconds for the Dragons to score the overtime game winner thanks to a breakaway goal from Colton Vannucci.
Tamagi, who blocked 25 shots and helped the Grizzlys out of a jam in the first period when they were facing a two-man advantage due to a hooking penalty and a tripping penalty, said everything fell apart in the third frame because the squad broke away from its game plan.
ìWe had a lot of confidence going into that period,î he said, adding the team was focusing on ìwhat not to do instead of what to do.î
ìWe were just trying too hard not to make mistakes.î
Tamagi will start in net for the Grizzlys' next home game on Feb. 4 against the Camrose Kodiaks.
Olds has now lost three in a row and is currently tied for fifth place in the AJHL's south division with the Calgary Mustangs.
