NHL Draft
MasterCard Memorial Cup: Edmonton vs Val d’Or
May
Game Five – Val d’Or Foreurs vs. Edmonton Oil Kings
2014 MasterCard Memorial Cup Round Robin
This key match up between two 1-1 teams got off to a very slow start when both teams played a very reserved style. However a turnover in the defensive zone and a great pass by Curtis Lazar (Ottawa) to Reid Petryk (Free Agent) resulted in Edmonton taking a 1-0 lead. Edmonton would strike again on a big powerplay opportunity and Curtis Lazar would finish in the slot for a 2-0 Edmonton lead. Edgards Kulda (2014 Re-Entry) got a questionable penalty shot opportunity when the defender tapped him with one hand on his stick but Antoine Bibeau (Toronto) came up big to keep it a two goal deficit. Just moments later on a failed clearing attempt by Edmonton, Ryan Graves (NY Ramgers) fired a point shot through a screen to put Edmonton on the board. The first period would end with the Oil Kings leading 2-1.
To open the second period Edmonton came out with a physical charge do finishing every check and really taking control of the game. They would then receive a power play opportunity with their momentum but Pierre-Maxime Poudrier (2014 NHL Re-Entry) would steal the puck and score a shorthanded breakaway to tie the game at 2. Edmonton would continue to assert themselves throughout the rest of the period but at the very end Anthony Mantha (Detroit) delivered a thundering check to Kulda which drew the attention of several Oil Kings and and let them know they were still very much involved in this game.
The third period opened with the Foreurs asserting themselves physically in a way they haven’t this tournament. Edmonton responded with their own hard hits and were developing all of the scoring chances early on. Edmonton received chance after chance, then finally on a defensive collapse Henrik Samuelsson (Phoenix) drove the wing and made a great move to beat Antoine Bibeau and regain their one goal lead. The rest of the period was almost all Edmonton until four minutes left when Anthony Mantha forced a turnover along the wall passed to Anthony Richard (2015 Eligible) who then made a great pass to Samuel Henley (Colorado) who drove the net and scored to tie the game at 3’s. Both teams finished the final minutes cautiously sending this game to overtime.
Just seconds into overtime, Reid Petryk (Free Agent) fired a one timer off the post. Edmonton continued to hold all the momentum early on and even earned a power play when Nicolas Aube-Kubel (2014 Eligible) was tagged with a high sticking penalty but couldn’t convert. Entering the second half of the first overtime period Val d’Or started to take over the game gaining several chances including their own goal post ultimately sending this game to double overtime. Val d’Or took over where they left off in double OT creating the first couple chances. Edmonton got the puck down the ice but a bad pass bounced over a defenders stick and the speed of Anthony Richard sent him in alone on a breakaway where he beat Tristan Jarry (Pittsburgh) five hole to end one of the longest MasterCard Memorial Cup games in history.