BREWSTER, NY – Tonight was military appreciation night, and as the weather continues to warm, the battles for the last playoff spots heat up. The Bulldogs, suffering a 5 game losing streak, took on the Dashers who on the flip side have won 5 of their past 6 games. There were only 2 penalties and as a result the game had a sense of free flowing to it, with back and forth action all night long and the goals came in similar fashion. The Bulldogs came up victorious in overtime 4-3.
The 1st period started slow, as both sides tested the waters see what the other side brought to the ice. Both goaltenders made solid saves to get warmed up and kept things close in the opening frame. The first goal of the contest would come at the 5:09 mark and it would be for the Dashers, as Derrick Schwartz put in a shot off the glove of James Robbins and into the back of the net to make it 1-0. The score remained 1-0 for the rest of the 1st period.
The Bulldogs got the ball rolling in the 2nd period. There’s a new Sheriff in town, Nathan Sheriff to be exact. His goal at the 3:51 mark tied things up at 1-1. Shortly after, at 11:38, the Bulldogs equalized on one of two power plays in the game, and Nikolai Okhlobystin would make it 2-1. The Dashers, however, were not willing to call it quits. With 1:21 to go in the period, Justin Levac would score to make it 2-2.
Levac came through yet again in the 3rd when he dumped the puck into the Brewster zone along the boards near the Bulldogs bench. The puck ricocheted into the net as James Robbins thought it was going behind the net; shades of Johan Hedberg in the 2007 NHL playoffs (A little hockey trivia). The Bulldogs would not fold however, and Ian Delong responded for Brewster with a goal 3 minutes later, completely embarrassing Oleh Shypytsin. With the score tied through 3 periods the two teams went to overtime, and it only took 1:08 for Nikolai Okhlobystin to bury a shot off a faceoff win by MJ Graham to beat Dalton McGrath for the victory.
For the Brewster Bulldogs, Nikolai Okhlobystin had 2 goals and 2 assists, Ian DeLong and Nathan Sheriff added a goal each, and MJ Graham had 3 assists. James Robbins stopped 29 of 32 shots for the overtime win. For the Dashers, Justin Levac had 2 goals and Derrick Schwartz had the other goal. Dalton McGrath stopped 43 of 47 shots for the OT loss.
Text provided by Tommy Pecoraro and official FHL press release
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