Matt Colbourne lifted a wrist shot from close range under the glove hand of Billy Clarke to seal the deal in the shootout as the Corner Brook Royals earned a 4-3 win over the Stephenville Jets Saturday night at the Corner Brook Civic Centre.
Clarke, a former Clarenville Caribous puckstopper, and Corner Brook Royals No. 1 goalie Brad Dyke were impressive in the shootout as Colbourne was the only one to dent the mesh in the extra time.
The Royals looked to have the game wrapped up in regulation, but the Jets managed to stay in the hunt for the win because of Clarke’s stellar game that featured several big glove saves from close range on several occasions. Then they tied the game with only 1.5 seconds left in regulation when Jonathan McCarthy banged home a loose rebound as the Jets swarmed the crease with Clarke on the bench in favour of an extra attacker.
Josh White and Cam Dohaney scored in regulation time for a Stephenville squad that opened the season with a convincing 10-1 over the Port aux Basques Mariners Friday night at the Stephenville Dome.
Josh Taylor, Ryan Meade and Adam Guy scored for the Royals.
Taylor opened the scoring with a quick wrist shot beating Clarke low on the glove side with five minutes left in the opening period while the Royals were killing off a minor penalty.
White got the Jets even at 5:23 of the second period when he beat Dyke with a snapshot through the five-hole, but the momentum shifted back to the Royals with under two minutes left in the period as Meade took a swing at a loose puck in the crease that found its way over the red line.
Dohaney’s point shot hit something on the way to the net with a maze of players in front of Dyke with just over five minutes left in the third period to get the Jets even, but Guy put the Royals ahead with his first of the season less than a minute later to set the stage for a dramatic finish in front of an estimated 1,200 fans.
In other weekend action, the Deer Lake Red Wings downed the Royals 6-4 on Friday night at the Hodder Memorial Recreation Complex, while the Mariners doubled up the Wings 6-3 on Sunday at the Bruce II Sports Centre in Port aux Basques.
