Spencer Dorowicz scored his league-leading 35th goal in overtime as the Olds Grizzlys defeated the Camrose Kodiaks 3-2 on Feb. 4.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Grizzlys.
The goal came on the power play as defenceman Matt Hanger's point shot bounced off the end boards and landed in front of the net, where Dorowicz potted the game-winner.
ìWe realized that (Devin) McDonald, the goalie there, he was over-committing to the shot and coming way out,î said Grizzlys head coach Brett Hopfe. ìIf we could make a move, get the puck over, he was way out of position and that was one of the ideas we had.î
ìWhether Matt (Hanger) planned to do that or not, it worked out for us there,î he added.
Olds was playing 4-on-3 after Kodiaks defenceman Matt Waseylenko took a slashing penalty 38 seconds into overtime.
Special teams play allowed the Grizzlys to claw back into the game after trailing 2-1 late in the third period.
Camrose defenceman Trevor Costello gave the Kodiaks the go-ahead goal midway in the third when his shot beat a screened Jake Tamagi.
Dustin Gorgi tied it for the Grizzlys on the power play with 1:52 left in the game and then celebrated by grabbing the crest of his jersey, mimicking Montreal Canadiens defenceman P.K. Subban.
The Kodiaks went 0-for-4 with the extra man, with Tamagi's 22 saves contributing to their drought.
Tamagi made some big saves over the course of the entire game, including one with 10 seconds left in the first period and the Grizzlys up 1-0, when an airborne puck found its way into the Olds crease.
ìHe played extremely solid,î Hopfe said. ìI can think of one save he made at the end of the first period that was almost a guaranteed goal and for him to come across and make that save, that was huge for us at that point.î
ìHe's given us an opportunity to win. For a guy that's sat out a good majority of the year and not complain and accepted his role as a backup goalie Ö I'm proud of him,î Hopfe continued. ìI'm excited with the way he's playing. We want to have two hot goalies going to the playoffs. As it looks right now, that could be the case.î
It was a chippy affair with plenty of pushing, shoving and face-washes between whistles.
Matt Lueken dropped the gloves for Olds with the Kodiaks' Luc Lemire late in the second period, to the delight of 347 spectators at the Olds Sportsplex.
Halfway through the third period, Camrose forward Brett Njaa engaged Jack Goranson after a questionable hit on the Kodiaks' Ryker Leer.
Officials gave Goranson two minutes for boarding and five minutes for fighting.
Njaa received two minutes for instigating, five minutes for fighting and a 10-minute misconduct.
Despite the multiple scrums, Hopfe said he thought his team showed discipline and restraint.
ìAn example of that was Jack Goranson finishing a hit and then taking a beating from a player and instead of dropping his gloves, he sat there and he took it,î Hopfe said. ìIt ended up being an even-up call at the end but little things like that are what's going to help us win games and I thought we did a good job of doing that last night.î
