Early offense and a 37-save effort from Colorado goaltender Jack Erickson were spoiled by four unanswered Oklahoma goals as the Warriors defeated the Colorado Grit, 4-2, on Saturday afternoon in Greeley to salvage a series split.
Winger Luc Bydal stayed hot and opened the scoring for the Grit when he marched down the left wing into the low slot and fired a wrist shot past Oklahoma goaltender Kyle Jones to give Colorado a 1-0 lead with 15:28 remaining in the first period. For the second night running, George Poirier promptly added to the tally within a minute. A Sheldon Rioux wrist shot banged off Jones’ left pad and the team’s leading goal scorer redirected the rebound into the cage to double the lead, 2-0, with less than five and a half minutes played in the first period. Oklahoma got on the board with their first even strength goal of the weekend series. Sebastian Speck boomed a slap shot from the left wing past Erickson to halve the deficit at the 8:11 mark of the first period. A successful penalty kill for Colorado in the final five minutes of the first period following an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to Ethan McEnenany ensured the lead stayed at 2-1 for the Grit headed into the first intermission.
A flurry of penalties opened the second period. Less than two minutes into the frame, Warrior forward Louie Kamienski and Bydal got tangled up behind the play and would only be separated by the officials at the whistle. The pair got sent to the box with offsetting minors and Bydal was soon joined by Evan Smutney, who picked up a tripping minor and sent Oklahoma to the power play with 16:13 left in the period. The Grit penalty kill found success at their second time of asking, but the Warriors converted on their third power play opportunity to tie the game. Speck again blasted a slapshot, this time from the right point. Erickson slowed it down with his glove, but watched the puck scurry past him and the red light flashed as the Warriors tied the game, 2-2, with 7:04 left in the second period. Late in the period, Speck crashed the net looking for a rebound and Cole Peters came to the defense of Erickson by shoving Speck away from the crease. The pair were sent to the box with 3:31 left in the second period, but neither team was able to take advantage of the four-on-four space and the teams exited tied, 2-2, after two periods.
An offensive onslaught from Oklahoma marked the final twenty minutes. Erickson stepped up for the Grit, making 16 saves on 17 shots in the final period to give the Grit a chance to take the lead. Instead, a turnover in the defensive zone made its way to the stick of Travis Bryson. The leading goal scorer for the Warriors made no mistake and blistered a slap shot off the crossbar and into the net to give Oklahoma their first lead of the night, 3-2, with 12:45 remaining in regulation. A furious rally from Colorado in the final three minutes was aided by the extra attacker when Erickson was sent to the bench to try and find an equalizing goal. The Grit tried to carry the puck out of their own zone, but were undone by a missed pass and Joey DeRosa ripped the puck into an open net to make the score, 4-2, in favor of the visitors with 1:26 left to play. DeRosa’s celebration was right in the face of Grit captain Alex German, who didn’t take kindly to the exultation and was quickly surrounded by DeRosa and three other Warriors before the officials broke the sparring parties apart. German and winger Dominik Kiss were sent to the penalty box and the Grit were on the power play for the rest of regulation, but were unable to convert while the remaining time rolled off the clock.
