Leave it to the Fergus Devils not to do things the easy way.
The Devils find themselves trailing the Erin Shamrocks 3-1 in their best-of-seven first round GBMO playoff series thanks to some poor defensive play over the first three games. But Reid Zorzi made sure the Erin wouldn't need the brooms, as he scored at the 13:06 mark of the first overtime in Game 4 to give Fergus a 1-0 win.
Game 1 in Erin started out promising enough for the Devils, as they had a 2-1 lead after the first period. But a sloppy effort in their own end for the second period left them trailing 5-3 after 40 minutes.
Goals from Ethan Jobb and Brock West in the first six minutes of the third pulled Fergus even at 5-5, but Trevor Van Alstine put the Shamrocks ahead for good when he answered West's goal with one of his own 47 seconds later. Rob Mair and Tyler Hogan scored to salt the win away.
Zorzi, Jobb and Ben Piluk added the other Fergus goals in Game 1, while Jesse Booker (2), Zack MacPherson, Zorzi (2) and Piluk chipped in with assists.
Game 2 started out sloppy for the Devils and never got any better. Erin built a 5-0 lead after one period and cruised to a 6-1 victory and a 2-0 lead in the series. The Shamrocks used a four-goal spurt in a seven-minute stretch late in the first period to put the game on ice.
Zorzi scored a shorthanded goal with just over seven minutes left in the game to break up Craig Byford's bid for a shutout. Byford finished with 39 saves on 40 shots, while Dave Bartolomucci had 39 saves on 45 shots in taking the loss.
What Byford couldn't accomplish in Game 2, he got done in Game 3. Erin scored twice in the opening period and, unlike Game 1, kept the Devils from mounting any sort of sustained offensive push. Byford stopped every puck that came his way, while Kyle Corcoran scored twice to lead the Shamrocks to a 6-0 win.
Erin had a 2-0 lead before the game was 70 seconds old, as Nick Pereira and Josh Gault scored 11 seconds apart to stake the home team to a lead that would never be threatened. Chris Terry and Reid Parker added insurance goals in the third.
As Game 4 played out, it appeared that Byford would once again get the better of the Devils' sluggish offence. But unlike the previous two games, Fergus didn't allow the Shamrocks to roam all over the ice - particularly in the offensive zone - at will. And Bartolomucci matched Byford save for save, keeping the Devils in the game while their offence tried to find a solution to the Erin netminder.
Having a slew of near misses in regulation, Zorzi broke down the left win in overtime and ripped a slapshot that fooled a kneeling Byford, zipping past his trapper and into the top corner of the goal for the overtime winner.
Following Game 4, a jubilant Zorzi said the win gives the Devils a little momentum heading into Game 5, but he knows they're going to have to come up with another stellar defensive effort if they want to be playing on home ice again this season.
"We haven't played our best hockey in this series, but in fairness injuries have been a big factor working against us - we're already down five bodies because of them, and that's not easy to overcome in the playoffs," he said. "But tonight proved that when we play a strong defensive effort, we can generate enough scoring chances to win. We didn't come out defensively in the first three games, but we showed up tonight."
After scoring five times in the first game, Fergus has put up just two goals in the next three games. Zorzi believes that by playing stronger defence - including getting a body on Erin's players, getting down and blocking shots, and filling shooting and passing lanes - the Devils will give themselves another good chance to win in Game 5.
"We amped it up defensively tonight, and we sent a few of their guys out of the game hurting a little bit," he said. "We're just going to have to scratch, claw and crawl our way back into this series one game at a time, one shift at a time. We need to get out there in Game 5 and smash some bodies like we did tonight, keep playing hard in our own end and get as many shots on their net as possible."
Devils head coach Eddy Gaffney was quick to credit Bartolomucci's work in Game 4 for helping prolong the series, but added that this was the kind of effort Fergus needed from the start of the series from all of the Devils.
"Tonight proves that we're capable of playing good hockey, but we're still waiting to get our share of the bounces in this series," he said. "It's easy to look at this game tonight and say we're capable of getting back into the series, too, but we have to take things one game at a time and make sure we're not looking even as far ahead as the next period. It's shift by shift for us right now."
Gaffney believes the motivating factor in their Game 4 victory was simple - a loss meant the end of the season for most and the end of careers for a few. That fear of finality provided a spark, however small, that the Devils needed.
"Sure, I think we played differently because of what was on the line tonight," he said. "I think we played the lock a lot better, giving up fewer odd-man rushes to them, and that let us transition the puck a lot easier. We still need more chances. I think we should have won Game 1 of this series, but we didn't get any of those bounces I mentioned before and Erin did. The middle two games, we just fell asleep for prolonged stretches and wound up paying for it big time."
By buckling down and grinding out a win in the series, Gaffney thinks there is still some hope for Fergus to come back and make this series interesting.
"We went back and looked at the goals they've scored in this series, and a lot of them came on giveaways and turnovers on our part," he said. "If we can limit those like we did tonight, we could force another game or two in this series. When they have had to work to score their goals, they haven't scored that many on us."
Another thing that tipped the balance towards Fergus in Game 4 was their physical play, as both Zorzi and Gaffney mentioned. The coach is hoping the continued physicality will benefit his team - even as the injury toll works against him.
"We started hitting harder, and that led to us winning some battles along the boards," he said. "We have to keep that up. But for right now, we're not looking past the first period of Game 5. We're taking each 20 minutes as it comes, and we'll worry about Game 6 if we get there."
Game 5 of this series is set for Wednesday, Feb 17, in Erin at 8:30 p.m., with Game 6 in Fergus on Friday, Feb. 19, at 8:30 p.m. as well if necessary. A seventh and deciding game would be played in Erin on Saturday, Feb. 20, starting at 7:30 p.m. if necessary.