The Toronto Roadrunners defeated the Manitoba Moose 3-2 in overtime before 1758 fans at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay Saturday night. The win gave Toronto a split in the two game exhibition series in Thunder Bay, with the Moose being 4-2 victors on Friday night. The series was presented by the Lakehead University Thunderwolves Men's Hockey Team.
Toronto's O/T game winner came from Nate DiCasmirro while Brent Henley lead the Roadrunners with a goal and an assist. Linemates Brandon Nolan, Tim Smith, and Jesse Schultz all registered two points to lead the way for the Moose.
The first period saw little offense with only three total shots in the first 10 minutes. It also saw two skirmishes; one a heavyweight bout between Manitoba's Jason Lehoux and Toronto's Henley, the second a light heavyweight clash between the Moose's Jimmy Roy and the Roadrunner's Dan Baum. Dan Tessier gave Toronto a 1-0 lead at 16:49 with an unassisted shorthanded effort. Shots were 7-5 Manitoba in the first.
Toronto came out quickly in the second, but couldn't get the puck on the Manitoba net. Manitoba then had some good chances including Jimmy Roy's post ringer at 5:00. Brent Henley gave Toronto a 2-0 lead at 9:00 scoring on a hard blast from just inside the Moose blue line. Manitoba's Jesse Schultz quickly replied at 9:49, set up by a beautiful pass from Brendan Nolan. The Roadrunners then replaced goaltender Mike Morrison with Chris Madden. Toronto applied some late pressure but weren't able to beat Moose netminder Alex Auld. Shots were 11-9 Toronto in the second.
The third period saw the best action of the two-game series as the two teams started to find their legs and create some good scoring chances. Manitoba's Tim Smith got the equalizer at 1:40, finishing off a lovely three-way passing play from Nolan and Schultz. Manitoba's Auld made a great toe save off DiCasmirro at 9:00 to keep the teams even at two. Toronto's Madden had to come up big at the end of the period, making a succession of good stops including a lightning fast, game-saving, glove save off Manitoba's Ryan Kesler at 18:30. Shots were even at 11 in the third.
DiCasmirro gave Toronto the win early in O/T when he fired home a lovely cross crease pass from Brent Henley 1:59 into the extra frame. Toronto outshot Manitoba 2-1 in the O/T and 29-28 in the game.
The Three Stars were:
1)Nate DiCasmirro - Toronto
2)Brent Henley - Toronto
3)Brandon Nolan - Manitoba