Wowza

First off, condolences to Bob Tory and his family following the loss of his father yesterday.  My thoughts and prayers are with the Tory family.

As for the game?  I'd like to take Tyler Schmidt's double-overtime game-winning goal out behind the bleachers and make out with it.  HAWT.

Overall it was a great game.  Nervous time from the very start.  But the Ams played so much better.  They played like a team, played as well as we all knew they could.  I can't stress enough how awesome I think the pairing of Sutherland and MacKenzie are.  For reals.  I told Sister my theory that not only has Brock been better from the start of the season, but bringing in Big Mac and pairing him with Suds has elevated Brock's game even more.

Drew Owsley...holy crap.  He was outstanding, once again.  With the win he becomes the winningest goalie in Americans playoff history.  Also outstanding was the Holland-Feser-Rankin line.  Rankin didn't start out on that line, Prokop did, but I didn't see Neal (except on the bench) after the beginning of the 3rd period.  Also not playing much in the end was Adam Hughesman.  Pretty much in OT it was Shinny-Ashton-Big Mess and Holland-Feser-Rankin.  I'm glad it ended when it did, guys were getting tired.  It came down to which tired team would make the first mistake.

"We kind of had that feeling in the room that we had to get that goal or else we'd dig ourselves a deep hole," said goalie Drew Owsley, who had another monster game with 47 saves. "Obviously, we felt some desperation in the room, for sure."

"That shows the character of this team," Owsley said. "We could have rolled over after we gave up that second one, but we kept pushing and got three quick ones. That got the ball rolling." (Examiner)

It could have ended in the first overtime when Shinny was awarded a penalty shot, but Reid was able to stop him.  I also feared it was going to end in the 1st period when the Ams were showing some frustration, but they were able to keep their composure for the most part and keep going as a team.

"It felt good to get that overtime winner," said Schmidt, whose shot came from the top of the slot. "I've never had one before in my career. After sitting out, you want to get back out there. I got lucky at the end. We needed this win."

"We had it in overtime, double overtime," Nachbaur said. "It came down to a testament of character and will. They were blocking everything and we didn't do that on the game-winning goals. Guys didn't pay the price. You want to go on to the next round, you've got to pay the price. Plain and simple."

"It was an outstanding game," Tri-City coach Jim Hiller said. "We didn't play well the last game and we didn't feel good about ourselves. I'm proud of them."

"I thought both goalies were really good," Hiller said. "If you look at those two, that's why this game went to so long." (Herald)

So now two days off (probably not "off", probably practicing) before game 5 Sunday night.  Remember there's the ridiculous start time of 7:30 (supposedly, I bet it gets moved to 8).  After last night I'm sure the boys slept well and today they'll need to eat Costco pallets full of food to replenish.

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I am quite honored when every once in a while Puck Daddy himself, Greg Wyshynski, asks for my input on something from a female hockey fan perspective.  This time around the topic was the female equivalent of the playoff beard.  My response?  Check it here. 

Happy Friday!