January 17th 2019
Lillehammer IK vs Storhamar 3-4 FINAL OT
(1-1, 1-1, 1-1, 0-1)
Storhamar were the better team in the first period in Lillehammer but had to se a tied score on the scoreboard. Patrick Thoresen scored early on to send the Yellows in front when he faced Nils Bengtsberg from the side, and the away fans had a blast. The visitors kept on pushing in offence, and both Robin Dahlstrøm and Steffen Thoresen came close to doubling the lead. But Bengtsberg said no. In stead Lillehammer tied the game almost out of nothing a few minutes before the break when a puck watching Storhamar allowed Austin Cangelosi to beat Oskar Östlund on the glove side from the slot. The hosts misused a huge chance to go on top just seconds after the goal, but luckily for Storhamar they missed it.
The second act was a repeat of the 1st seeing Storhamar having most of the run of play without getting ahead on the scoreboard. As in the first frame, Storhamar lit the lamp early on when Victor Svensson backhanded in a powerplay Patrick Thoresen rebounder. The Yellows fed off the buzz and continued with solid play all over the ice and created chances in every shift. Huge chances were wasted, Bengtsberg was hot and also had a bit of luck. Around the half way point Lillehammer started to show some teeth and managed to create three huge chances on counter attacks, two of them on point blank range. Oskar Östlund stood tall to save them, and the best save of the lot was a stick save on a wrap-around attempt by Justin Hickman. The hosts managed to tie the game in a powerplay just 14 seconds before the break when Nick Dineen beat Östlund from the right circle. All square.
Storhamar continued to dominate the run of play in the third frame, but Lillehammer were more dangerous when they came into offence. So it wasn’t undeserved when Parker Bowles sent them ahead on an odd man rush in the 12th minute. Bowles beat Östlund from the far side. The Yellows pushed on in offence without creating too much fuzz, but at the end they managed to tie it with one second left on the clock. Yes, one second…! After having pulled Östlund for an extra attacker, a solid push was on. And finally Mikael Zettergren managed to tip it in from the doorstep after a Victor Svensson throw-in from the boards.
Storhamar used their momentum in the overtime period and won it when Patrick Thoresen found an open Niklas Fogström who went top shelf from close range. The game winner came three minutes into it and secured a big 2 points after having been one second from nothing.