The OCN Storm suffered back-to-back losses after playing two road games against the Norway House North Stars this past weekend. In Saturday's game, Drew Peters and Jacey Melnyk put the Storm on the board first. However, after picking up two penalties, the North Stars went on the power play and capitalized, scoring two goals to tie things up heading into the second period.
Right off the bat in the second, the North Stars took a penalty, and Ozy Atkinson took advantage, notching a power-play goal to make it 3-2 for the Storm. In the second half of the period, five goals were scored in total, three of which came from the North Stars. The pair of goals from Kavan McKay and Daine Thomas gave the Stars a 4-3 lead, but shortly after, Carson Clemons tied things up for the Storm. To cap off the period, North Stars forward Lucien Tait-Reaume and Storm forward Cedrick Puffalt both scored power-play goals, making it 5-5 going into the third.
In the third period, the North Stars dominated as they scored three unanswered goals, making the final score 8-5 in favour of the North Stars.
Yesterday's game was just as exciting, if not more. Similar to Saturday’s game, the Storm got on the board first with goals from Nathan Stevens and Ozy Atkinson. Near the end of the first, North Stars forward Lucien Tait-Reaume scored his third goal on the weekend. OCN Storm Captain Drew Peters responded with an unassisted goal, but with just under two minutes left to go, Daine Thomas got the North Stars closer by scoring his twelfth goal of the season. With the score being 3-2 going into the second, the North Stars had some work to do to tie things up.
Near the twelve-minute mark, Kade Bruyere tied the game with a power-play goal, and shortly after, North Stars defenseman Coalton Saunders gave the Stars their first lead. The North Stars then took two penalties, resulting in two back-to-back power-play goals scored by Jacey Melnyk and Laryn Chaboyer, making the score 5-4 going into the third.
Late in the third, Cedrick Puffalt extended the Storm's lead to 6-4 after scoring another power-play goal. Much like Saturday's game, the North Stars took control of the third and went on a run, scoring three goals in just one minute and thirty seconds. The North Stars were back on top, but not for long, as Tye Burke tied the game to send it to overtime.
After a back-and-forth battle between the two teams, it would be Dawson Osborne of Norway House who scored the overtime winner, giving the North Stars their second win in a row.
The North Stars will shift their focus to this upcoming weekend’s road trip matchup against the number-one-ranked NCN.
