The Ghostriders final game of the 2021-2022 regular season was both victorious and combative.
The match against the Creston Valley Thunder Cats culminated in a 3-1 win for the Ghostriders on their Memorial Arena home ice on Saturday, Feb. 19.
The first 15 minutes of the opening period saw no goals from either team despite vigorous effort from both sides. But, at 15:36 into the first, Jake Oviatt (#8) of the Ghostriders put a first goal past the Thunder Cats’ goalie with assists from Rylan Cardinal (#10) and Kort Kisinger (#21).
Kisinger got the game-winning goal with no assists at 19:21 into the first.
The period was combative, with 11 penalty offences mounting up in total, four for the Thunder Cats and seven for the Ghostriders. The period ended with a multi-player brawl between the teams, causing the second period to commence with the several penalties against both squads.
Three of the penalties were overlapping (meaning two offences were put against single players at the same time). Nick Mitchell (#12) and Jock Michael (#13) from the Ghostriders and Karsten Gorrill (#26) from the Thunder Cats each received a 2-minutes ‘blow to the head’ penalty on top of 10-minute misconduct penalties.
The next two periods were both lighter on combativeness and penalties (though some were still issued). The Ghostriders switched out goalie Dylan Lacroix (#31) for Thomson Casey (#1) to start the second. Casey let in one goal at 12:30 minutes in, but that was the only shot that would make it past a Ghostrider goalie for the whole game.
A penalty shot from Ghostrider Liam Samycia (#9) at 3:07 into the third period did not result in a goal, but the scoreboard hit three for the home team at 8:39 minutes with a short-handed goal from Matthew Schulmeister (#27). His was the final Ghostriders goal of the 2021-2022 regular season.
The Ghostriders will be facing off against the Columbia Valley Rockies for the playoffs starting at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 22.
Five games in the playoff round are set for the final week of February, with games on Feb. 22, Feb. 23, Feb. 25, Feb. 26, and Feb. 28.
The Fernie Ghostriders finished third in the Eddie Mountain Division for the 2021-2022 regular season, with 42 games played, 22 wins, 15 losses, one overtime loss, and four shootout losses, totalling 49 points. The Columbia Valley Rockies are second in the division, with 63 points. They have 30 wins, nine losses, two overtime losses and one shootout loss out of 42 games played.
READ MORE: Two wins and a Teddy Bear Toss for the Ghostriders over the weekend
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