Oh. So. Close.
A thrilling comeback from a four-goal deficit ended in heartbreak at 12:40 into overtime for the Guelph Storm Thursday night. The finishing blow being a shot from the point off the stick of the Soo Greyhounds' Jordan D'Intino found its way past Storm goaltender Owen Bennett, who was screened by another Sault player.
The goal gave the Greyhounds a 5-4 victory and a 3-1 series lead in the opening round playoff series.
Game 5 goes Saturday in the Soo.
"This series is not over," said Storm forward Matt Poitras, a three-point man on the night, outside a sullen Storm dressing room. "We get back on the bus tomorrow and try to steal one up there.
"We battled back and I guess we can be proud of battling back. But I think we kind of let that one slip away."
The Soo was the better team in overtime, with several good chances to win it before finally doing it.
"It looked good. I thought we did so many good things to generate the goals and the possession and the chances and the opportunities. But we got away from it in the overtime. I thought we kind of chased the game a bit in the overtime," said Storm coach George Burnett.
"But I think we need to take a lot of positive things from the effort. It would have been very easy for us to pack it in after the first period. The guys deserve a lot of credit and be proud of the way they fought back.
A couple of power play goals and a couple of bad turnovers by the Storm had the Soo up 4-0 in the first period. A cakewalk looked in order. Starter Jacob Oster was replaced by Owen Bennett.
But the winds of change started blowing midway through the second period.
That's when Guelph's Sasha Pastujov was called for a charging major on Sault goaltender Tucker Tynan, who reacted with a blocker punch on Pastujov. Both were ejected, with Tynan's being a match penalty, which could come with a suspension.
That brought Samuel Ivanov in to play net for the Soo and he struggled.
Charlie Paquette scored to make it 4-1 by the end of the second, then Matt Poitras and Ben McFarlane made it 4-3, setting up a thrilling finish to regulation.
Michael Buchinger forced overtime when what looked like a shot aimed at Guelph sticks in front of the Soo net hit a Sault player's stick and trickled under the pad of Ivanov.
Burnett said the key to Game 5 is to get off to a good start and hope everyone is healthy, as a flu bug is working its way through the team.
As to the possibility of Tynan not being available for Game 5 if he's suspended, Burnett said it's not a sure thing, that the league will likely review the incident.
