MULTIMEDIA

The Waxers fell behind early and trailed after one by a 2-0 count. The fast paced period saw both clubs with good chances to score but not to the extent of earlier games where each club seemed to tear out the word defense from their hockey dictionaries.

An overlooked save perhaps now after the completion of the contest, but especially vital at the time was a breakaway stop by Rick Marnon when the Waxers trailed 1-0. Marnon was back between the pipes after gaining a chance to begin his recovery from a severe case of strep throat.

The second period saw the Waxers seemingly in shorthanded situations not just by one but two. However, it would be the Waxers who struck first blood in the middle frame.

The blue and white shorthanded by two and with the Raiders handed an outstanding opportunity to really nail a spike into the coffin the Waxers got a big boost from veteran forward Steve Nobili. Taking a loose puck, Nobili as if possessed, powered past the Wexford blueline, brushing aside a would be defender and after getting in the clear for a 10-14 foot breakaway he deposited the disk into the Raider cage to halve the Raider lead at 2-1.

Later after the initial period of penalty woes was behind them, Kevin Tompkins was sprung after blueliners Derek Doucette and Jimmy Ball exchanged passes and the captain made no mistake roofing home the puck home to tie it a 2-2.

Sixteen seconds later Tompkins fired again and Jesse Boucher (no surprise to Waxer followers) tapped home the puck out of mid air to give the Waxers their first lead of the night, Jimmy Ball with the other assist.

Then shortly after gain the lead the Waxers once again saw themselves playing with a manpower disadvantage and the Raiders powerplay struck for three consecutive extra-strength goals to leap ahead 5-3.

Once again the Waxers were in a tough spot but in a tremendous exhibition of character (real guts, more like it) the blue and white machine came roaring back and controlled the play for the remainder of the period as they did most of the time when at even strength. Finally with less than four minutes remaining in the second, on a powerplay of their own, Paul Robinson smartly maneuvered from behind the Raider goal  in front to dunk in the final goal of the period to cut the deficit to 5-4. Nobili and Jason Young with the assists.

The second period saw the Waxers outshoot the Raiders 18-10 despite the numerous occasions that saw Markham playing shorthanded.

Not much time was wasted in the third before the Waxers evened the score again. This time it was Tompkins deflecting his second of the night on a point blast, Mark Menonte and Ball earning assists on the powerplay effort.

At the six minute mark the Raiders scored the go-ahead goal to make it 6-5 and then the clubs began an exchange of some excellent scoring chances. In particular Marnon was called upon to make several big stops to keep the Waxers in the hunt. Hunt the Waxers did, at times with relentless pressure. With just over seven minutes remaining in regulation time Derek Doucette unloaded a soft wrister from the point that eluded the Raider tender and things were back to square one as far as the scoreboard was concerned. Jason Duffy earned an assist on the tying goal.

But things were not back to square one as the Waxers continued to outplay the Raiders with a machine-like attack that saw them outshoot their rivals 15-8 in the period.

The first overtime period settled nothing but it would take just over two minutes of the second overtime for the Waxers to come up with the game winner. On a powerplay, Tompkins kept a puck in along on the wall deep in Raider country, fed to Menonte who then twisted past a Raider penalty killer and fed Boucher with a great pass. Boucher took two or three swipes at the puck, getting the rebound back each time before dunking the puck into the Raider cage.

An interesting note with respect to this night's action was that the Waxers found themselves short two defensemen due to penalties and none other than the captain himself, Tompkins took some turns to help give the remaining four blueliners a breather. Anyone unfamiliar with the squad would not have been able to notice anything awry as he did a fine job filling in as called upon. In addition to his two goals he also picked up a pair of helpers to complete a four-point night.

Boucher has continued to be a "Raider killer" in the playoffs (he had several outstanding games against them in the regular season) and his pair of goals gives him 8 in 10 games in the post season. In addition Ball contributed three assists in easily his best game of the post season. 

So now the series is tied at 3-3 with game seven in Scarborough at 7:30pm. Come out and support your Waxers!.

G A M E   S T A T I S T I C S

No.

 G

A

PTS

PIM

PPG

SHG

GWG

TOTALS