A colossal comeback came up short in overtime for the Halifax Thunderbirds on Saturday night.
Down by nine goals to visiting Saskatchewan late in the third quarter, the Thunderbirds made a furious comeback to force extra time. But a wild overtime ultimately led to a 16-15 Rush victory in a frenetic National Lacrosse League game before a raucous 8,800 fans at Scotiabank Centre.
“That was an emotional rollercoaster,” said Thunderbirds forward Austin Shanks, who scored five goals and assisted on two others in Halifax’s first loss at home.
“We just didn’t play 60 (minutes) and we put ourselves in a hole. An upside is that the second half was pretty incredible for us. There hasn’t been any quit with this team all season long. If we play a full 60, I don’t think there’s a team that can touch us.”
Down 15-12 with 3:16 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Thunderbirds scored three unanswered goals with the extra attacker, including Shanks’ game-tying marker with 25 seconds left.
Shanks nearly clinched the victory as regulation time expired but his shot from 15 feet out rang off the right post just before the horn sounded.
The largest crowd to witness an NLL game at The Vault were treated to an exciting overtime. Each team had a goal called back after video review. The Thunderbirds thought they scored the winner early into the extra period but the 30-second shot clock had expired before the ball went into the Rush net. Moments later, Saskatchewan was called for a crease violation after it had scored as chants of ‘no goal’ bellowed throughout the arena.
The Thunderbirds were twice denied on clear breaks by Rush goalie Evan Kirk – including a breakaway by Brad Gillies – in overtime. Saskatchewan finally sealed the victory on a superb individual effort by Mike Messenger, who took a sneaky pass from Chris Corbeil and dove across the crease and beat Halifax netminder Pete Dubenski. The goal, of course, was reviewed but Messenger’s foot was touching green before he launched himself across the purple crease.
“Kirky played lights out for us and Messenger came through big time for us,” Rush defender Matt Hossack said. “There was just a small window for that pass to get through to Mess and he tucks it underneath in the smallest of openings. It was a great goal.
“But what a rollercoaster of a game. It was one of those games as a fan you would love to see but as a player, not so much. We ran into some composure issues late in the game and you can’t do that against a good team. We let them back into it. But at the end of the day, we settled down in overtime and took care of business.”
“Every overtime is crazy but to have two goals back was, again, an emotional rollercoaster,” Shanks added. “Technically they were the right calls. It was disappointed to lose that one but we’ll take the good out of it.”
The Thunderbirds (6-2), who have lost two straight, were coming off a bye week and hadn’t seen game action since a 12-9 loss to the Toronto Rock on Jan. 31. It was their first home game since Jan. 18.
The two-week layoff seemed to affect the Thunderbirds in the first half. Passes weren’t crisp, they allowed two coast-to-coast breaks which resulted in two Saskatchewan shorthanded goals and they trailed the Rush 7-3 at intermission.
“I wouldn’t say it was rust though,” Shanks said. “All season, we’ve had our troubles in the first half. Maybe it’s a mental thing. If we knew the problem, we wouldn’t be doing it. Maybe we need to do new things, a different warm-up perhaps. We have to figure it out. It’s a mental battle more than anything. The effort is there, we're just not executing.
“We have too many good players to give up on. We’ve all been on winning teams, we’ve all won championships, whether it’s a Mann Cup or Minto Cup or worlds, whatever it is. This team is littered with championship pedigree. I don’t think anyone on this team would ever give up.”
Halifax came alive late in the third with three goals in 42 seconds. Trailing 12-3, Ryan Benesch scored three times, with goals by captain Cody Jamieson and Saskatchewan’s Mark Matthews sandwiched in between, in a span of 2:47. The Thunderbirds went into the final frame trailing 13-7.
The final individual game stats are gaudy.
Benesch finished with a Darryl Sittler-like 10 points, with seven assists to go with his hat trick, and Jamieson collected three goals and six assists.
Scott Campbell, with two, Clarke Petterson and Graeme Hossack had the other Halifax goals.
Ben McIntosh scored four goals for the West Division-leading Rush (5-2) while Robert Church and Ryan Keenan each collected hat tricks.
After Keenan’s third goal put the Rush ahead 9-3 five minutes into the second half, Halifax head coach Mike Accursi pulled goalie Warren Hill in favour of Dubenski, who saw his first regular-season game action.
The matchup also pitted the Hossack brothers of Port Perry, Ont., against each other for the first time this season.
Graeme Hossack, 27, is a two-time NLL defensive player of the year. At 230 pounds, he's strong yet quick.
Matt Hossack, who's about 50 pounds lighter than Graeme, felt his brother's presence early into the game. The younger Hossack had possession of the ball in the Halifax zone during the first minute of the game, tried to cut toward the front of the goal but Graeme Hossack took away the lane and then shoved his brother to the floor.
Graeme Hossack would eventually put the Thunderbirds on the scoreboard when he converted on a 2-on-1 break with Shanks. But it would be Matt Hossack, who finished the game with two assists, who would get the last laugh.
“I’m pretty sore,” joked Matt Hossack, who turned 26 on Feb. 8, when asked about playing against his brother. “He gave me a few hits but I gave it back to him a few times.
“It’s tough; it literally is a battle between us. I know he hates losing and I understand that feeling. But you have to have the respect for guys after the game. I’ll see him later and talk to him for a bit.”
The Thunderbirds return to action Friday night when they host the Rock, who beat the Vancouver Warriors 14-7 on Saturday to move into a tie with Halifax for the North Division lead.
“It’s going to be grudge match against Toronto,” Shanks said. “They beat us the last time so we need to bounce back and get a win back home for our fans.”
