The Ottawa Black Bears kicked off their Week 17 doubleheader taking on the Halifax Thunderbirds Friday night at Scotiabank Centre. Halifax entered the game tied for third place in the Unified Standings, while Ottawa was on a three-game losing streak, and in danger of falling out of playoff contention. The Black Bears held a 9-7 halftime lead, but a hat trick from defenseman Graeme Hossack led 11 Thunderbirds scorers in a thrilling come from behind 17-16 win. Halifax improves to 9-5 with the win, remaining in third place, and moving just one game behind second place Saskatchewan, who is idle this week. Ottawa drops to 5-8, tied for 10th place with Philadelphia, and has a crucial home game on Sunday against the Colorado Mammoth. The Black Bears will need to regroup quickly if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Ottawa takes halftime lead behind hat trick from O’Connor
Cole Kirst got the Thunderbirds on the board first (2:49). Ottawa responded with a four-goal run, started by Jeff Teat (5:22). Travis Longboat (6:15) buried a pass from Teat, then Teat followed with his second goal 15 seconds later. Taggart Clark (9:28) closed the run to make it 4-1. Ryan Terefenko (12:32) broke the run, but Reilly O’Connor hammered one home from the inside (14:04) to keep the Black Bears up three, 5-2 after one quarter of play.
Longboat’s second (1:38 second quarter) made it a four-goal game, but Halifax tied the game within a span of two minutes. Goals from Jason Knox (2:13), Cody Jamieson (2:56; 3:06), and Thomas Hoggarth (3:33) leveled the score, 6-6. The Black Bears went on another run, with Larson Sundown (8:54) and O’Connor (5:33; 9:47 power play) restoring a three-goal lead. Clarke Petterson closed out the first half scoring (14:14), but Halifax trailed 9-7 going into halftime.
Loss puts Ottawa on the brink of elimination from playoffs
Halifax picked up where Petterson left off in the second half, scoring five straight goals to take the lead. Graeme Hossack (5:17) and Trevor Smyth (6:41) scored goals in transition to tie the game, 9-9. Then Randy Staats (8:33), Petterson’s second (10:34), and Jason Knox (11:17) gave the Thunderbirds a 12-9 lead. Jake Stevens broke the run 11 seconds later, but Hoggarth (13:53) pushed the lead back to three. Teat’s hat trick goal (14:21) and Sundown’s second (14:59 power play) cut Halifax’s lead to 13-12 heading into the fourth quarter.
Teat tied the game with his fourth goal (0:34 fourth quarter) on a power play. Colton Armstrong scored in transition (5:11) to put the Thunderbirds back in the lead, but Matt Marinier responded with a transition goal for Ottawa 46 seconds later. Hossack scored his second off the ensuing faceoff (6:06), only for Teat to net his fifth (6:50 power play), tying the game again at 15-15. Mike Robinson again gave Halifax the lead (8:51), and Hossack appeared to ice the game with his hat trick goal (13:14). Teat notched his sock trick (13:26) on the next faceoff to narrow the margin to one, but Ottawa could not find the equalizer in the final minute of the game.
Other Stats of Note
Ottawa: Teat (6g, 4a); O’Connor (3g, 3a); Sundown (2g, 2a); Longboat (2g, 2a); Clark (1g, 2a); Stevens (1g, 1a); Marinier (1g, 1a); Connor Kearnan (3a); Brent Noseworthy (3a); Jay Thorimbert (2a)
Halifax: Hossack (3g, 2a); Petterson (2g, 3a); Jamieson (2g, 2a); Hoggarth (2g, 1a); Knox (2g, 1a); Staats (1g, 4a); Terefenko (1g, 3a); Robinson (1g, 2a); Kirst (1g, 1a); Armstrong (1g, 1a); Smyth (1g)
Shots on Goal: OTT 52; HFX 75
Power Play: OTT 4 for 10; HFX 0 for 2
Jake Withers (HFX): 3a, 24 Loose Balls, 3 Caused Turnovers