Ice lose heartbreaker in OT

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This article was published 23/05/2022 (1535 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Gage Alexander did his best to give the Winnipeg Ice a chance to pull out a victory in Game 3 of the WHL’s Eastern Conference final Monday night.

And it was very nearly enough.

The Ice goaltender made 51 saves, including 46 in regulation time, but he was unable to deny Edmonton’s Justin Sourdif who sniped at 8:03 of overtime to lift the Oil Kings to a 4-3 decision before 5,005 fans at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

Zach Benson had given the visitors a 3-2 lead with his ninth of the playoffs with only 3:46 left in the third period but Jalen Luypen, with Edmonton goaltender Sebastian Cossa pulled in favour of an extra attacker, tipped home the equalizer with 78 seconds left.

Winnipeg’s Connor McClennon had tied the game at 2-2 with his seventh of the playoffs nine minutes into the third period.

The result gave Edmonton a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. The Oil Kings will host Games 4 and 5 on Wednesday and Friday, respectively. Cossa finished the game with 18 saves, including four stops in overtime.

Alexander has been a major player in the series.

Making his first appearance since March 5 due to a lengthy injury rehab, the 19-year-old stopped 18 shots in a relief of Daniel Hauser only to lose a 5-4 overtime decision in Friday’s Game 1 and then made 35 stops in Winnipeg’s 5-1 triumph in Saturday’s Game 2.

Dylan Guenther gave Edmonton a 1-0 lead at 14:28 of the first period when he swatted a rebound after Logan Dowhaniuk’s shot past Alexander. It was Guenther’s 12th goal of the post-season.

Winnipeg’s Jack Finley made it 1-1 less than four minutes later when he converted Connor McClennon’s goal-mouth feed on a power play. It was Finley’s seventh.

Defenceman Kaiden Guhle, with his fourth, restored the one-goal Edmonton lead at 2:12 of the middle frame when his point shot deflected off defenceman Tanner Brown’s stick and past Alexander.

Games 6 and 7, if necessary, would be held at Wayne Fleming Arena on Sunday, May 29 and Tuesday, May 31.

The Ice were without the services of suspended left-winger Owen Pederson and injured centre Matt Savoie.

Pederson, a fourth-year left-winger who has seven goals and 17 points in 12 playoff games, was assessed a one-game suspension as supplemental discipline for his high-stick to the head of Oil Kings blue-liner Luke Prokop in Game 2.

Pederson was given a double-minor on the play while Prokop would eventually return to the game.

Savoie, the club’s regular-season scoring leader, left Game 2 with what appeared to be an upper-body injury after a big hit from Oil Kings centre Justin Sourdif. Savoie had six goals and 12 points in 10 post-season games.

BLUE-LINES: Winnipeg was 1-for-2 on the power play. The Oil Kings were 0-for-4… The game featured a pair of Winnipeggers chosen in the first round of the 2022 WHL Prospects Draft. Edmonton centre Gavin Hodnett, who spent most of the 2021-22 season with the Rink Hockey Academy’s U18 squad and was chosen 19th overall, played his first WHL playoff game Monday. Ice defenceman Jonas Woo, chosen one spot earlier in the draft, played his 13th post-season game… Three stars: 1. Justin Sourdif, Edmonton; 2. Gage Alexander, Winnipeg; 3. Kaiden Guhle, Edmonton.