Game 2 of the OJHL Conference Quarterfinal Series went right down about as close to the wire in regulation as possible before the Trenton Golden Hawks came away victorious, 4-3.
One of the most exciting plays in hockey, the penalty shot, took centre stage and it was Hayden Jeffery who came up massive in the one-on-one showdown with one second left in the game.
20-plus regular season goal scorer Ethan Kindree provided the opposition, skating in slowly in an attempt to lull Jeffery before snapping a shot to his glove for one of the Grimsby product’s 26 saves.
The game got off to a fiery start with Andrew Wycisk and OJHL regular season penalty minutes leader Nole Faulkner dropping the gloves.
Lindsay drew first blood on a strike from Kindree at the 6:18 point of the first frame, before a response courtesy of Jack Ziliotto’s first playoff goal at 11:50 from Beckett Ewart and Nathan McHattie.
Isaiah Shantz lifted Trenton ahead 2-1 in the middle stanza, assisted by Josh Penney and Thomas Kuipers at 16:33.
Ewart pushed the Hawks ahead by two just 88 seconds into the third, but the Muskies made a theme of not quitting, as Cole Maclean beat Jeffery less than a minute later to close the gap to 3-2.
A Shantz empty-netter with 47 seconds left appeared to have locked the win down for Trenton, but Ajay Rai immediately buried one for Lindsay 10 seconds later off the centre ice faceoff to set up the dramatic curtain-closer.
Trenton carries the 2-0 series lead into Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. back in the friendly confines of ‘The Hangar’ for Game 3.
