Black Bears blank Skyhawks(updated)

NOJHL Final Game 4

Northern Michigan Black Bears 5
North Bay Skyhawks 0

Final

It appears as though Mike Herbert's triple overtime goal for the Black Bears Friday night has completely changed the complexion of the best of 7 series and shifted the momentum south of the border.

The Northern Michigan Black Bears blanked the North Bay Skyhawks 5-0 at the Big Bear arena Saturday afternoon in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Ryan Behnke, Jared Lavender, Colin Sarfeh, Chris Kraft, and Jim Ceglarek scored for the homeside, while Tony Stoehr recorded the shutout. After being down 4-0 after two periods of play, Chris Abbey replaced Mike Lalande between the pipes for the third period. The Skyhawks were badly outshot 44-18 in the afternoon affair, including 19-1 edge for the Black Bears in the third period. The Skyhawks loss evens up the series at two games apiece with the home team winning all four games of the NOJHL final.

The turning point of the game however occurred late in the second period. With the Skyhawks down 2-0 Dustin McCrank was given a major penalty and a game misconduct for spearing Black Bear goaltender Tony Stoehr when he was trying to play the puck beside the net. The Black Bears went on to score two powerplay goals just over a minute apart as the homeside built up a 4-0 lead after two.

The Skyhawks were less than 5 minutes away from taking a stranglehold 3-0 lead in the series last night before the Black Bears scored to tie the game at 1-1 Friday night and then went on to win the game in the 49th minute of play in overtime.

Tickets will go on sale at Memorial Gardens at 10 a.m. on Sunday morning for game five of the series back at Memorial Gardens Monday night. Game time will be 7 p.m.

Game Summary

First Period
1. NM: Ryan Behnke (Kyle Jacobson, Jordan Boman) 17:16 FG GW PP

Penalties: Steve Kruszewski NM (SL) 05:23; Tony Stoehr NM (SL) 09:10; Ryan Murtaugh NM (RO) 14:04; Dustin McCrank NB (RO) 14:04; Chase Gallacher NB (RO) 15:22; Chase Gallacher NB (M21) 15:22; Joel Rechlicz NM (USC) 17:16; John Nogatch NM (RO) 18:30; Colin Sarfeh NM (RO) 18:30; Matt Collins NB (ELB) 18:30; Frank Desbiens NB (RO) 18:30; Chris Pontes NB (RO) 18:30;
Second Period
2. NM: Jared Lavender (Mike Caprio, Tyler Huskey) 01:50
3. NM: Colin Sarfeh (Chris Kraft) 18:27 PP
4. NM: Chris Kraft (Mike Hebert, Colin Sarfeh) 19:18 PP

Penalties: John Nogatch NM (INT) 11:39; Dustin McCrank NB (SP) 14:24; Dustin McCrank NB (MP46) 14:24; Quinn Waller NB (SL) 17:32;
Third Period
5. NM: Jim Ceglarek (Ryan Huggett, Steve Kruszewski) 16:29 PP

Penalties: David Frawley NB (SL) 07:44; David Frawley NB (SL) 07:44; Kyle Jacobson NM (HS) 09:37; Matt Collins NB (USC) 14:30; Matt Collins NB (M21) 14:30; Quinn Waller NB (SL) 15:06; Quinn Waller NB (M21) 15:06; John Nogatch NM (USC) 15:41; Frank Desbiens NB (HO) 15:41; Frank Desbiens NB (RO) 15:41; Bryan Pearse NM (RO) 19:31; David Cappadocia NB (RO) 19:31;


With files from NOJHL.com