By WJBC Staff
BLOOMINGTON – After a scoreless hockey game, the Thunder forced a Game 5 in overtime against the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders with Alec Mehr netting the golden goal less than a minute and 30 seconds into the extra period.
With the win, Bloomington moves into a winner take all game against Cedar Rapids on Tuesday night. The Thunder tied the series at two after being in a must win situation to keep their season alive.
With the series on the line, the Thunder came out with tenacity and were able to trouble the RoughRiders in the offensive zone right from the drop of the puck. Logan Lambdin had some of the best chances including a toe-drag move to the front of the net. He was met by the solid glove hand of Ben Blacker who turned away a set of strong chances in the first period. The goaltender ended the night with 38 saves despite the loss.
In the first, the Thunder turned in a number of chances on the RoughRiders for a game high of 14 shots on net. Blake Gober also had a chance in the first after the Thunder goaltender Hayden Lavigne kicked across a shot to the boards. The Thunder goaltender made 21 saves in the game to help the Thunder into the scoreless third period.
Lavigne turned in his fifth shutout of the year for the Thunder and it couldn’t have come at a better time. With the defense in front of him, limiting Cedar Rapids to just one shot in the third period, the Brampton, ON native still managed a few highlight reel saves for the Thunder in the win.
Lambdin again had a chance to cash in on some quick passing on the power play, but was denied. Blacker just got a piece of a one-timer to keep the Thunder’s leading goal scorer from the regular season off the board. The puck caught the goaltender and rang off the cross bar. With all of Lambdin’s chances in the game, he was eventually rewarded with an assist on the game-winning goal along with Thunder captain Jake Slaker. Slaker leads the post season in points with seven (2g, 5a) in four games.
Cedar Rapids also had some chances in the second including a shot that rang off the post. The Thunder were strong on the penalty kill, again denying the RoughRiders on the man advantage on three power play opportunities. The Thunder helped use their power play to gain momentum but were held off the board for the first time in the series, going 0-for-4 on the power play.
After a strong 10-1 third period shooting performance by the Thunder, the teams went to the intermission before overtime. The Thunder controlled all of the play from the get go. As the puck was coming out of the zone, Lambdin stepped in to clog the lane. The puck bounced to Slaker and then tapped over to Mehr for a shot from the right circle. The second year forward has continued his impressive post season, with his second goal as the shot beat Blacker inside of the left post.
The Thunder flew off the bench and flooded the Irvine, CA native in front of the scoring table. Even with the celebration, the Thunder are tied 2-2 in the series and will have one more game to play. The winner will move on to face the Dubuque Fighting Saints in the Eastern Conference Semifinal.
The team travels to Cedar Rapids on Tuesday to take on the RoughRiders in Game 5 looking to become the first team since 2013 to come back from a 2-1 series deficit and win. Puck drop is at 7:05 from the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena and will be broadcast on FastHockey.com and WJBC.com.
