Wednesday, May 19, 2010

WILDCATS DONE

FINAL/OT: Wildcats 3, Spitfires 4

Wellwood’s overtime-winner eliminates Wildcats from MasterCard Memorial Cup

PRESS RELEASE
BRANDON, Man. – Eric Wellwood of the Windsor Spitfires (3-0) scored 12:22 into overtime to lead the defending MasterCard Memorial Cup champions to a 4-3 victory over the Moncton Wildcats (0-3).

The Wildcats came out of the gates determined to avoid elimination, limiting the Spitfires’ scoring opportunities with an aggressive fore-check.

Randy Cameron broke the tie in the late stages of the first period. He beat goaltender Philipp Grubauer at 18:36 with a solid wrist-shot on the power-play. It didn’t take the defending MasterCard Memorial Cup champions long to even it up. Cam Fowler redirected a Justin Shugg point shot past Shane Owen with 8 seconds to go in the period. Owen was making his first start of the tournament in place of Nicola Riopel who could not compete due to illness.

Moncton managed to outshoot Windsor 16-12 in the opening frame.

Shugg put the Spitfires up by one in the early stages of the second period by tipping a great Taylor Hall feed. The rest of the period belonged to the goaltenders with both making a series of spectacular saves to keep the score 2-1.

There was a lot of excitement in the opening minutes of the third period. Wildcats captain Scott Brannon tied the score up at two at 2:32 with a hard slap shot from the blue-line with Mark Cundari and Gabriel Bourque in the penalty box for roughing. Less than one minute later, defenseman Brandon Gormley’s blast from the point fooled Grubauer.

But the Spitfires battled back. Stephen Johnston registered his first goal of the tournament to even things up at 4:47.

Gabriel Bourque almost ended it in the closing seconds of the third period, but he hit the crossbar with twenty seconds to play.

Eric Wellwood, a 2009 Philadelphia Flyers draft pick, won it for the Spitfires 12:22 into overtime. He was named the game’s third star. Justin Shugg received the first star while Randy Cameron was named the second star.

Game six of the 2010 MasterCard Memorial Cup hits the airwaves of Rogers Sportsnet tomorrow at 7 pm (CDT) as the Brandon Wheat Kings battle the Calgary Hitmen. The game can also be seen live on Sportsnet.ca and on the NHL Network in the U.S.

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