With their fans cheering on back home, the Collingwood Blues opened the Centennial Cup tournament in Manitoba Thursday night with a dramatic overtime victory.
The Blues earned a 2-1 overtime triumph over the Steinbach Pistons in their opening game of the Canadian National Hockey League championship tournament.
While there were no goals for either side in the first period, the first goal of the game was tallied by Collingwood Blues’ Mark McIntosh in the second period, assisted by Nathan Omeri and Pacey Schlueting. This was the first game for 16-year-old Omeri, who has just been called up to play for the Blues in this tournament that will decide junior hockey supremacy in Canada.
The Blues did not lead for long. Three minutes later, a goal by Steinbach Pistons’ Ian Amsbaugh knotted the score.
With no goals in the third period, the game went into overtime.
At four minutes and four seconds into overtime, Blues’ Robert Strachan scored a powerplay goal, assisted by Bryce Sutherland, to lift his team to victory.
Blues goalie Noah Pak shone between the pipes, making 28 saves. Steinbach goalie Dominik Wasik also had 28 saves. The two goalies were named the Players of the Game.
The Blues will play game two on Saturday, May 13 at 12:30 p.m. ET against the Battlefords North Stars.
The series runs from May 11 to 21 at Stride Arena in Portage la Prairie, Man. The winners of the series will take home the Centennial Cup and be the 2023 Canadian National Hockey League champions.
The full Centennial Cup schedule, current stats and livestream game links can be found here.
