The Listowel Cyclones once again faced a do-or-die situation to stay alive in the Sutherland Cup playoffs, this time at home for game 6 against the London Nationals.
London brought a 3-2 series lead into the Steve Kerr Memorial, bitterly disappointed after losing game 5 at home in double OT where they pumped 45 shots on Cyclones goalie Evan Morrison. The teams got the first period underway just after 7:30, and the game got off to a torrid pace with both teams earning early power plays. Just before the 12-minute mark, Listowel earned a second man advantage and made no mistake as Brayden Krieger sniped a sharp angle shot past Springer in the London net. London would tie it after furious pressure down low, with Riley MacRae sniping from a sharp angle high over the shoulder of Morrison. The period would end 1-1, with London setting a wide gulf in shots on goal 16-5.
In the second, after surviving loads of pressure from London, the Cyclones got a third power play but couldn’t do much with it as London stood tall only allowing 2 shots early. It would be the Nationals who finally made their power play work as Christian Pollilo made a perfect shot top shelf just as a 5-on-3 expired to give London a 2-1 lead. Toward the end of the period, London would take back to back penalties, giving the Cyclones a 5-on-3, but they couldn’t score before the frame’s end, carrying 30 second of a two man advantage into the third with the shots at 25-15 for London. Evan Morrison was standing tall again, particularly on a spectacular post-to-post save on a wraparound by MacRae.
With the season on the line, the Cyclones could not beat Springer on the 5-on-3, and then conceded an early penalty putting London on the man advantage. Listowel would survive the kill and continue trying to tie the game. However, just before the halfway mark of the period, Brenden Clayton took a kneeing penalty against the London captain Dawson, giving the Nationals another opportunity to build on their lead, but again Listowel survived. The Cyclones would then cause a mad goal mouth scramble in the London crease, and they would earn another power play opportunity as a result. They would also earn a penalty shot after a London player put his hand over the puck in the crease, and Chayse Herrfort would miss going wide to the blocker side. Listowel still had a man advantage to work with though, and on the ensuing play Jonah White was can-openered and that earned yet another power play and a brief 5-on-3. Then as that 5-on-3 ended, London took a high sticking call giving the Cyclones a long two-man advantage. Chayse Herrfort thought he had a goal but it painstakingly hit the iron. Listowel would not make it work on the power plays, giving London a great chance to finish out the game. They would do just that, holding off a furious push from Listowel to win the series 4-2.
What a season for Listowel. 9 rookies in the lineup, and despite that youth, a first place finish in their conference and a deep playoff run. Another fun season in the books, and we’ll be back for more in September. Congrats to the Nationals on moving on to the Sutherland Cup Final, and congrats to the entire Cyclones organization on another great run.
