On Wednesday night, with 1,163 looking on at Tundra Oil & Gas Place, Ethan Guthrie scored in double overtime in game four. That goal lifted the Oil Caps to a 4-3 home victory and knotted the series.
Last weekend, playing in the north, the No. 3-seeded Oil Caps and No. 2 OCN Blizzard split the opening two games of their Manitoba Junior Hockey League MGEU West Division semifinal series. The Virden squad won game one, 4-2, but the hosts took the second contest, 3-1. At home on Tuesday, the Oil Caps fell 6-4 in front of 908 as OCN gained a 2-1 series lead. Virden tied things up on Wednesday.
Game five is Friday in OCN. The sixth contest is back in Virden on Sunday. If needed, game seven is in OCN on April 4.
In the opening game of the series, Virden struck first and led 1-0 and 3-1 at the intermissions. Colten Miller and Nolan Chastko each found the back of the net twice for the Oil Caps. Saves stats were not posted online, but Virden goalie Eric Reid was honoured with the game’s first star. Chastko was the third star. OCN’s Darik Feasey was the second star. Feasey and Ashton Paul had the Blizzard’s goals.
“I thought our guys had a good start to the game in a tough building to play in,” Virden head coach Tyson Ramsey said. “We knew they would come at us hard, and we were able to weather that storm and capitalize first in the game. I thought throughout the night we were able to score on the chances we got and keep them chasing the game. Eric Reid was stellar in net for us.”
The Virden bench boss felt his squad played “a more consistent game for 60 minutes on Saturday than we did on Friday.”
“We didn't have to defend for many extended periods, and I thought we managed the game very well,” Ramsey said. “They capitalized on a couple bounces, and we had some not go our way around their net. We had great goaltending again, but we didn't generate enough offence towards their net.”
After a scoreless first period, Riley Zimmerman got the Blizzard on the board in the second period. Drayden Kurbatoff’s powerplay goal at 12:48 in the third put OCN up 2-0. Roux Bazin of the Oil Capitals cut the deficit to one, 2-1. Virden was unable to tie it up and Kurbatoff scored on an empty net for his second goal of the night. Reid took the loss for Virden.
A three goal second period on Tuesday helped the Blizzard win 6-4. Virden had led 2-1 after one. The teams traded goals in the third. Virden was two-for-five on the powerplay, while OCN was zero-for-three.
Scoring for the Oil Caps were Miller, Andrew Blocker, Chastko, and Bazin. Reid made 26 saves. For OCN, Chase Hamm had 34. Alex Bernauer scored four times for OCN. Zimmerman and Michael Hlady had the team’s other goals.
Before the game, Chastko was presented with the team’s McNeil, Harasymchuk, McConnell Top Scorer Award. He had 43 points in 54 games.
Ty Plaisier was named the Gardewine Hardest Working Player. He rejoined the Oil Caps for the playoffs after a two-game stint with the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League.
Bernauer was the first star and Zimmerman the second. Chastko was the third.
On Wednesday, each team scored once in each period of regulation. Virden would score and then OCN would reply. The contest was tied at 1-1 and 2-2 at the intermissions. After a scoreless first overtime session, Guthrie scored at the 18:19 mark of the second OT period. Trevor Hunt had the first goal of the game for Virden. Chastko scored in the second and got another in the third – this time on a penalty shot. Oil Caps goalie Owen LaRocque made 45 saves on 48 shots. Hamm stopped 39 for OCN. Scoring for the Blizzard were Ashton Cuvelier, Zimmerman, and Hlady.
Trevor Hunt was the Gardewine Hardest Working Player. Guthrie’s game-winning goal netted him the first star. Chastko was second. Cuvelier was the third star.
Oil Cap Alumnus
Former Oil Capital Justin Lee has signed to play with the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins for the rest of this season. The American Hockey League team is the top farm team of the National Hockey League’s Pittsburgh Penguins. Lee recently wrapped up his college career at the University of Denver. He helped the Pioneers win 2022 NCAA Division I national championship. Lee played for Virden in 2017-2018.
