Welcome to Bizarro World, Guelph Storm edition.
In one of the strangest games ever played at the Sleeman Centre the Storm fell 7-6 in overtime to the Owen Sound Attack Friday night.
This one was almost too weird to describe.
Take your pick:Owen Sound scoring 10 seconds in? Two goals put in their own net by Storm players? A combined nine goals on the first 30 shots? Owen Sound having a two-goal lead on four different occasions? A weak Zach Poirier wrister from 80 feet out giving Guelph the late lead? Owen Sound tying it with 35 seconds left in regulation?
Then, the icing on the cake, Guelph killing a penalty in overtime, only to see a Markus Phillips wrister partially stopped by Anthony Popovich, only to see it trickle over the line for the winner.
“It was entertaining for a lot of people, I guess,” said Storm coach George Burnett.
“There were so many highs and lows in the game. There were so many odd things happening. You don’t often see games like that,” Burnett said. “It was just an odd night.”
Burnett was more upset by giving up the tying goal to Aidan Dudas - a screen shot from the boards - than he was losing in overtime.
“That’s more disappointing, to be up 6-5 and have a chance to win the game in regulation,” he said.
Guelph played the game without leading scorer Ryan Merkley, who Burnett said was day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.
They could have used him in the third period, when three Storm power plays produced barely a scoring chance, never mind a goal.
Liam Hawel had a pair of goals for the Storm. Alexey Toropchenko, Isaac Ratcliffe and Keegan Stevenson also scored.
Guelph was out-shot 38-26, but quite frankly it was a miracle either Popovich or Owen Sound’s Olivier Lafreniere were around to see the end of this one.
“We thought about it,” Burnett said of pulling Popovich.
“But generally, when he’s had a tough start he’s buckled down and been really strong for us …. he made some big saves for us, but it wasn’t a good night to be a goaltender.”
To their credit, the Storm didn’t quit and showed a lot of fight, something the faithful in the stands were looking for after a terrible showing last weekend.
“It reminded me of my first and second years here with the score bouncing around and putting big numbers up there,” said Storm captain Garrett McFadden.
“We stuck to our plan. We stayed together on the bench … we knew with what happened last weekend that every single point this weekend is extremely important.
“It’s nice to see the fight in these guys.”
Guelph plays in Barrie Saturday night and is home against Mississauga Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m.
