2008 RBC Cup

THIRD PERIOD FLURRY KEEPS BLADES ALIVE AT 2008 RBC CUP

They’re not done yet.

Jeremy Welsh scored twice – completing his hat trick – and Lindsay Sparks added the eventual game-winning goal in a third-period comeback as the Oakville Blades kept their semi-final hopes alive at the 2008 RBC Cup with a wild 7-5 win over the Humboldt Broncos on Wednesday afternoon.

The victory means Oakville and Humboldt are even in the standings as 1-2, with one game to go for each. The Blades will face the Camrose Kodiaks on Thursday night (7:00 p.m. ET), while the Broncos take on the Weeks Crushers Thursday at 2:00 p.m. ET. Oakville needs a win over the Kodiaks or a loss by the Broncos to lock up a semi-final spot.

Humboldt, coming off a 2-1 loss to Camrose on Monday afternoon, struck quickly against the Blades, as Matthew Kirzinger got a shot past Oliver Wren just 2:04 in, the first shot faced by the Oakville goaltender.

The Blades responded – Geoff Guimond’s snapped a shot off the far post and past Humboldt netminder Taylor Nelson – before the Broncos retook the lead on a breakaway goal by Dane Lindskog.

Oakville put the cap on a wild opening period by first tying the game and then taking their first lead on goals from Welsh and Dustin Alcock for a 3-2 advantage heading into the intermission.

They ran the lead to 4-2 on Guimond’s second powerplay goal of the game early in the second period before the Broncos got powerplay goals of their own from Scott Schroeder and Brady Wacker, and a shorthanded marker from Kirzinger with just 22 seconds to go in the frame to send the West Region champions to the dressing room up by a goal at 5-4.

After five goals in the first period and four more in the second, it was no surprise that the third period featured plenty of offense from both sides.

It took the Blades’ powerplay just 4:58 to answer the Broncos’ second period goal rush, as Welsh forced the puck past Nelson after a scramble in the Humboldt crease to pull even at 5-5.

Welsh connected again just 47 seconds later, rifling a puck just under the crossbar to give Oakville its second lead of the game, this time at 6-5.

Sparks made it 7-5 before Tanner Vandesype scored for the Broncos with just 65 seconds to go, cutting the lead to one and setting up a wild finish.

Guimond, who added an assist to his two-goal afternoon, and Kirzinger picked up player-of-the-game honours for their respective teams.