After a late third-period goal threatened Ferris State Hockey’s win streak, redshirt sophomore Cole Burtch scored an overtime winner from the seat of his pants to keep them in the win column.
The Bulldogs (11-16-2, 10-11 in CCHA) have been playing some of the best hockey of their season, winning five of their last six. This includes tonight’s 3-2 overtime victory over Lake Superior State (10-17-2, 8-12-1 in CCHA).
After Ferris conceded the first tally, they answered back promptly in the opening frame and then took the lead in the second. After holding the Lakers back for the second and majority of the third stanza, a deflection off a Ferris player could have changed the outlook of this game.
However, it didn’t and an unusual overtime winner from Burtch pushed the Bulldogs’ win streak to three games.
“It was a big-time win there,” Burtch said. “I was just lucky enough to kind of just stay with it and it just sat there for me. I’m glad it did. That’s a big win.”
The Markham, Ontario native found the back of the net twice tonight, grabbing the last two tallies of the game. Head coach Bob Daniels described Burtch’s game-winner as “a whale of a goal.”
If not for Lake Superior State’s extra-attacker unit, overtime would have been out of the picture. The Bulldogs struggled to clear the puck out of their zone with the Lakers’ goalie pulled. This led to a shot bouncing off of a Ferris defenseman and popping through for a goal.
“We were pretty well pinned in,” Daniels said. “I thought the guys did a good job, though. It’s almost like a penalty kill at that point … if you play hockey long enough, that’s bound to happen.”
Daniels didn’t fault anyone for the last-minute goal, even joking that they “protected it so well it went off one of our own guys in the net.”
Early in the opening frame, a net-front scramble led to the Lakers scoring the first of the night. Lake Superior State, who leads the CCHA in penalty minutes per game, was sent to the box less than three minutes later. The Bulldogs’ man-advantage attempt then netted its first power-play goal in five games with senior forward Zach Faremouth making it a 1-1 game.
After nearly 26 minutes of deadlock, a behind-the-net pass allowed Burtch to give the Bulldogs their first lead of the night in the second period.
The Bulldogs’ one-goal lead lasted the first 19:38 of the final frame, as the Lakers tied the game at 2-2 with an extra-attacker tally. With the contest in overtime, Lake State’s goalie made a diving poke check, which tripped Burtch but left the puck open for him to swat it into the net to win the game.
Ferris will finish its second-to-last home series tomorrow with a chance at sweeping Lake Superior State. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:07 p.m.