The Milwaukee Power took to home ice on Friday night to face the Oregon Tradesmen. The Power had just relieved Head Coach Stephen Esau of his coaching duties earlier in the week and appointed their General Manager, Kevin Marion, as Interim Head Coach. The Tradesmen were coming off of a win over the Cyclones and were looking to keep ahead of the Mustangs in the standings. Milwaukee would start Spencer Northway in net and Oregon would go with Ian Hedican.
The first period was a back and forth of chances with neither side able to gain the upper hand. The Tradesmen power-play unit, the best in the division, was unable to score on two chances. The Power would take the lead just past the halfway mark as Konrad Clements let a long range wrister fly through traffic that would be redirected in five-hole by Max Erstad, the secondary assist was credited to Teddy Marion. The period would finish with Milwaukee up by one after being out shot by Oregon.
The game took a turn in the second with the Tradesmen tying the game on a goal from Amir Velikhanov. Less then 15 seconds later Oregon would have the lead as Abe Laggis would score. In the blink of an eye the Power went from a one goal lead to trailing by one. The Milwaukee penalty killers kept the Oregon power-play off the board again on their lone chance. After two the Tradesmen would carry the one goal lead to the locker room outshooting the Power again.
Tempers would flare in the third as multiple fighting majors were assessed and both sides would lose a forward and defenseman to an early shower. Time was running out for the Power as they tried to get the score back to even. In the final minute they were able to pull Northway for the extra attacker. Missed chance after chance brought the tension to a roaring boil in the building and as all hope seemed lost in the final seconds Mason Ausmus would fire from the top of the right circle to tie the game with under two seconds remaining on the clock, Erstad and Tommy Kundinger were credited with the assists.
In overtime both sides would see chances but the five minutes would run all the way down with no one scoring sending the game to the shootout. Oregon would shoot first with Henry Slager and he scored. Garrett Wilderman would match the shootout at 1-1. Velikhanov would go second for the Tradesmen and scored, while Nate Stone would be stopped for Milwaukee. With Oregon leading 2-1 out went their top scorer Sam Vanderhoeven with a chance to put the game away. His shot would draw iron and bounce away from Northway’s net. Down to their last strike Milwaukee called on Ausmus to send it to extra shooters and he came through in crunch time again. Carter Watters would be denied leaving the outcome in the hands of Michael Dalaly. He would fire point blank five-hole and the puck bounced off of Hedican’s stick and found twine in the upper left corner to give Milwaukee their first win over Oregon this season and the first win for Kevin Marion as the Power’s bench boss.
The Master Printwear 3 Stars of the Game:
3rd Star – #17 Michael Dalaly
2nd Star – #12 Mason Ausmus
1st Star – #31 Spencer Northway
The Coach’s Pub N Grill Hard Hat Player of the Game – #18 Tommy Kundinger
The Power are off until the 20th when they play the first of their three games at the NA3HL showcase in Blaine, Minnesota. Milwaukee plays the New Jersey Titans, Oklahoma City Ice Hawks and the New Ulm Steel. Catch all the action on HockeyTV!
