Undisciplined Play Costly as Eagles Drop Game 3 in Overtime

Article by I. Schoonderbeek/Media by C. Archer

The Clarington Eagles were looking to take a stranglehold in their Eastern Conference final series when they hosted the Napanee Raiders for game three on Sunday afternoon. For two periods, it looked like Clarington would do just that. But bad habits reared their ugly heads in the third period in the form of undisciplined penalties, leading to an eventual 3-2 overtime loss.

Clarington appeared to have more jump in their step from the outset of the game Sunday afternoon. They appeared to be moving the puck better than in either of the series’ first two games and showed more success in gaining and maintaining play in the Napanee zone.

After a scoreless first period, the Eagles got on the scoreboard first seven minutes into the second stanza. Trevor Urquhart moved the puck to Brayden Hicks below the Napanee goal line to start the play. Hicks quickly fed Kyle Smith in front of the net for a tap-in, his second of the postseason.

The 1-0 lead held up until early in the third period. With defenseman Kyle Shepherd in the box serving a questionable roughing call, Napanee was able to convert on the powerplay with only seven seconds remaining in the penalty to even the score at 1-1.

Four minutes later, the Raiders would jump out in front after Clarington failed to clear a bouncing puck in their own zone. The turnover just inside the faceoff circle was quickly moved to an open Raiders shooter in the slot who beat Eagles starter Oliver Webster with a snapshot under the crossbar.

The Eagles responded two minutes later when Kayden Hambly received a pass on the right point and patiently walked the line while a screen developed in front of the net. Just like he did a day earlier in Napanee, the rookie blueliner snapped a perfect wrist shot blocker side for his second of the playoffs to tie the game up at 2-2.

The hopes of turning the Hambly goal into a momentum changer were quickly dashed 16 seconds later when Adam Klaas got his stick into the skates of a Napanee skater, sending the Eagles back to the penalty kill. While the Eagles were able to kill off the minor penalty, any offensive rhythm had effectively been stopped in its tracks.

With just over a minute left in regulation time, Clarington was handed a golden opportunity to put the game away with a powerplay of their own. But just a dozen seconds into the man-advantage, winger Jordan Shaw took an almost identical penalty to the Klaas infraction deep in the Napanee zone to snuff out the man-advantage.

The two clubs would require overtime for the second time in three games to determine the outcome.

Five minutes into the extra frame, the Napanee forecheck won a puck battle in the corner before feeding an open skater with a cross-ice pass that was buried past Webster for the game-winner.

To add insult to injury, Eagles captain Mitch Davies, who has been the team’s best forward in the series, got involved with the Raiders players after the goal. Davies was issued a match penalty, which will likely result in a suspension that will keep him out of the lineup for the remainder of the series.

“The bottom line is we need more production from our offense,” said head coach Dean Baumhauer after the game. “Some of our top guys haven’t been producing. We’re going to be without Mitch for a while now, so somebody’s going to have to step up.”

“It’s tough to win at this juncture in the season,” Dean continued. “Down 2-0 you know they’re (Napanee) going to bring their best effort. We were undisciplined late in the game. We’re on the powerplay looking to win the game and we immediately take an o-zone penalty. That can’t happen…that’s the bottom line.”

As they have all season, the Eagles will adjust and look for a bounce back performance when they travel to Napanee for game four Wednesday evening at 7:30. They’ll return to Rickard Arena Thursday night for game five at the usual 7:25 game time.

Interesting fact: The team scoring first has lost all three games so far in the series.