GUELPH, Ont. – Winder downs Windsor. It was an early prediction from longtime Guelph Gryphons PA man Sean Furfaro – and it came to fruition in dramatic fashion. Second-year forward
Todd Winder scored the overtime winner to complete his hat-trick and help No. 4 seed Guelph down the Lancers 5-4 in a thrilling Game 1 of the OUA West quarter-finals Thursday night at Gryphon Centre Arena.
Winder, who also scored five goals against Windsor in the best-of-three 2018 OUA West quarter-final, capped an impressive shift by getting to the net and banging the puck past goaltender Jonathan Reinhart nine minutes into the extra session.
Marc Stevens celebrates Guelph's second goal of the night
The Economics major from Uxbridge, ON also had an assist, giving him an incredible 14 points (9 goals, 5 assists) in six career playoff games as a Gryphon.
It was an amazing win for the hosts, who scored three times in the second period to storm their way back into the game, though they looked in trouble when the No. 5-seeded Lancers took a 4-3 lead just 1:14 into the third period. Kyle Hope scored his second of the night on a point shot that that deflected off the stick of a Gryphon defender and into the top of goaltender
Andrew Masters' net.
But just like they did when rallying in the second period, the Gryphons refused to give up. They put pressure on Windsor and came up with another equalizer when veteran D-man
Reilly O'Connor (two points) snuck in to the back post and buried a rebound past Reinhart with 1:40 left in regulation.
Marc Stevens also scored for Guelph, while captain
Scott Simmonds, rookie
Connor Bramwell, and
Mikkel Aagaard had a pair of assists each.
Masters, who came into the playoffs with shutouts in his last two games, made 31 saves. The Lancers scored a couple early but the netminder was immense as the game wore on, stopping multiple breakaways, as well as flashing the glove at key times to keep the Gryphons in the game.
An intense affair broke open in the first half of the second. The hosts trailed 2-0 after 20 minutes but got a much-needed boost when Winder took a feed from Bramwell and roofed a shot from the left circle over Reinhart's blocker to get Guelph in striking distance at 2-1.
The Lancers responded quickly on John Wesley's slick backhander through Masters' five-hole to regain the two-goal cushion but Stevens and Winder scored 62 seconds apart to knot the game 3-3. Stevens struck on the man advantage at the 10:17 mark and Winder buried his second of the night at 11:19 for a quick equalizer that ignited the crowd.
Winder goes top shelf for the first of three on the night
The Lancers got the dream road start when second-year forward Connor Logan took a feed from Ben Assad on the inside edge of the left circle and wired it past Masters just 3:33 into the opening period.
Guelph picked up the pace immediately after but were unfortunate when an attempt on the Windsor goal went wide and up the boards, springing Hope for a breakaway. The fifth-year forward went high on Masters but despite the goaltender getting apiece of the puck, it dropped just over the line for a surprising 2-0 lead after eight minutes of play.
The Gryphons had chances to get back in it before the first intermission but they couldn't cash in on a couple power-play opportunities despite generating several solid chances. The best one came from Simmonds, who redirected a shot in the final minute of the period but it rang off Reinhart's left post.
Guelph, the OUA leader in shots on goal, fired 18 at Reinhart in the first period and finished with 43.
Gryphon Take
"I saw the puck and I just dove at it. I was hoping I hit it. I probably should've scored before that but it's alright."
"We have great guys in the room. We knew we could win the whole time, it was just a matter of playing our game, keeping it simple, getting pucks deep and getting some saves from Masty. He came up huge tonight and we had to reward him."
– second-year forward Todd Winder
"The first game in the series is so critical and we know it's gonna be harder Saturday in Windsor. We absolutely had to win this game."
"That's the most goals we've given up in a month. For us, we have to be better defensively. We gave up too many chances tonight, especially early and as a result, we were chasing the game. But, our guys have tremendous character, great leadership and we just kept battling back until we finally got it done in OT."
"He (Winder) is a money guy. He's been so good while he's been here for us and he's just taken it to another level here in the playoffs for us. We're proud of that."
– head coach Shawn Camp
The Record
Guelph is 1-0.
Next up
Game 2 @ Windsor, Saturday, Feb. 17, 7:30 pm
