Dayton Falls Short in OT Loss vs. Thunder

IN a contest that on paper shouldn't have been that close, the Niagara Falls Thunder defeated the Musicmen 5-4 in overtime at the Soundstage in Dayton, OH.

After Derek Ryan and then, after a goal from former Musicman Jonathon Drouin, Teemu Pulkkinen both gave Dayton first period leads, the special teams reared their ugly heads.

Three straight powerplay goals for the Thunder gave them a 4-2 lead as the game entered the late stages of the third period.

Michael DelZotto scored at the 18:43 mark of the third period to make it a one-goal deficit for the home team. Sixty - two seconds later, Del Zotto sent Dylan Larkin in on Niagara Falls goalie Petr Mrazek who couldn't control his rebound after Larkin's wrister aimed at the upper left corner. The puck bounced directly to Scottie Upshall, who buried it for the game-tying goal with five seconds left in regulation.

Dayton had all the momentum, had outshot the Thunder since the start of the second period and overtime couldn't start fast enough for the home crowd.

After the TV timeout, each team sent its overtime skater out and Logan Couture quickly won the draw against Ryan and circled back in his own end to set up the play.

A normal approach as teams try to bring the puck up the ice carefully and get set up in their opponents offensive zone.

Couture noticed something amiss in the Musicmen's defensive coverage and winger Cam Atkinson had snuck behind the Dayton defense along the far wall. Couture dumped the puck behind defenseman Luca Sbisa.

Sbisa beat Atkinson to the dump-in and turned behind the Dayton net to skate out of his zone on the other side.

Atkinson was a few steps behind Sbisa, a good skater, as he headed up ice.

Atkinson closed ground quickly and deftly lifted Sbisa's stick, stole the puck and turned hard back toward Musicmen goalie Jared Coreau.

At the top of the left wing circle, Coreau came out toward Atkinson to cut down the angle.

By the time the clock had struck the :21 mark, Atkinson had faked his shot from the circle, slammed on the brakes and beat the rookie goalie with a change of pace shot through Coreau's 5 hole for the win.

The loss, Dayton's sixth in a row, left the Musicmen in the Corfield Conference basement. The Thunder, winners of 7 of their last 10 games, are now tied with Portland for fifth place in the conference.

Game Notes:

Musicman Drew Stafford will be out for about three weeks after James Neal, on a questionable check, shoved Stafford into the Musicmen player's bench. "Drew never saw Neal coming and Neal should've let up a lot more than he did. Neal's a cheap shot artist and someday will clean his clock but good." said Upshall.

Neal, who has played for both Niagara Falls and Dayton, (as well as Thunderbay and Quebec,) in his CCHL career, felt it was a good hit.

"Yes, I saw him, I thought there was plenty of room and I barely touched him. Maybe he's too old to play this level anymore. Who knows?" said Neal.

What's Next?

Dayton continues its homestand as the Ottawa Barracudas come to town on Thursday night. The Thunder return home to face off with the Halifax Hammerheads at the Thunderdome also on Thursday evening.