Shootout, shorthanded OT goal lift Hockey team

How crazy a weekend was it at Riley Arena this past week as the Yellowstone Quake hosted Eugene for a three-game series?

And it wasn’t anywhere close to the most nerve-wracking moment of the weekend. Not by a longshot.

Those moments came Friday night, when the visiting Generals again found a way to force overtime with a late goal in regulation. This time, the two sides managed to finish out the overtime period without a game-winning goal being scored, progressing the game to a shootout between the two sides.

Quake players Andreas Olofsson, Zachary Tuchklaper, Mitchell Pijanowski and Alex Johansons each took their tries in the shootout, but were turned away by Eugene goaltender Gabriel Mier y Teran. That performance was matched, however, by Quake keeper Dom DeGuiseppi, who similarly denied the first four Generals skaters to come his way in the shootout.

Eugene finally beat DeGuiseppi with a shot on its fifth attempt at net in the shootout. That placed all the pressure on the Quake’s Drew Parus, who needed to place the puck in net to keep the game going.

Parus proved up to the challenge, but only succeeding in transferring the make-or-break pressure onto teammate Darek Scott when Eugene’s Cody Andersen beat DeGuiseppi to begin the sixth round of the shootout. Scott, like Parus, proved up to the task of continuing the game, much to the delight of a raucous Friday night crowd at Riley Arena.

The Quake’s goaltender took over from there. DeGuiseppi steered the puck clear of net as the next four Eugene skaters took their crack on net. Finally, on the 10th round of the shootout, Zak Johnson’s miss for Eugene was countered with a goal from the Quake’s Travis Momon to wrap up a 5-4 shootout win for the Cody-based Quake.

After falling behind 1-0 in the first period, the Quake surged ahead with goals from Momon, Scott and Olofsson. Eugene cut the lead to 3-2 with a goal in the first minute of the third period, but TJay Lozier countered for the Quake just a minute later, forcing Eugene to score twice in the final 18 minutes to force the overtime and shootout. The tying goal came with 1:13 remaining in regulation.

The only blemish on the Quake’s weekend performance came Saturday as Eugene escaped back to Oregon with a 5-2 win.

Parus struck first, netting a goal just over 16 minutes into the game. Eugene tied the game less than 90 seconds later. It was the first of five consecutive goals, eventually leading to a 5-1 Eugene lead with 10 minutes remaining in the game.

Tuchklaper managed to snap the streak with a goal for the Quake with just under nine minutes to play, but that would conclude the scoring. Yellowstone was out-shot 58-27 in the contest.

With the victories, the Quake were lifted into sole possession of third place in the NORPAC standings. The team sits two wins ahead of Eugene in the standings. The Generals, however, have four games more than the Quake remaining on their schedule.

With their long January home stand now behind them, the Quake hit the road once again. The team begins a three-game series at Seattle, which is currently second in the NORPAC standings, tonight (Thursday). The Quake do not return to Riley Arena for a game until Feb. 10.