<div align="center">GAME 49
Colorado Mammoths (5) vs. St. Louis Scarecrows (3)

Starting Line-Ups


Dickie Pecker © - Sim Browski (LW) - John Jeeples (RW)
Sludge (D1) - Jörgen Dåhlssen (D2)
Jacob Andrews (G)


Eugene Feist © - Dos Diablo (LW) - Michael McHale (RW)
Gustav-Hans Mohrs - Marc-Andre Malkin
Casey Holmes (G)

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1st Period
The St. Louis Scarecrows’ offense put up a game to be proud of, but ultimately their defense and young goalie Casey Holmes could not withstand the offensive onslaught of last year’s Cup-winning team.

The Scarecrows netted the first goal of the game quickly, scored by rookie of the year contender Dos Diablo just two minutes into the first period and getting the home crowd on their feet. Unfortunately, their young squad just couldn’t manage to get anything going against Colorado’s solid defensive effort, including the inability to take advantage of a power play opportunity 9 minutes in. The stands had quieted as the Mammoths killed their first penalty of the game, momentum beginning to waver back in the Mammoths’ favor. Hunter Bob then scored the game-tying goal that would become his first goal of his hat trick twelve minutes in, assisted by teammate Mango Dollar to make up for his earlier penalty. This galvanized the Mammoths’ squad, and Glenn Sheamus sunk another in for the Mammoths five minutes later, assisted by veteran defenseman Sludge as he ran all over the Scarecrows.

2nd Period
Colorado began the second period looking as if they would continue their offensive domination, Hunter Bob scoring his second goal a scant 48 seconds into the period to the boos of the St. Louis crowd. But the Scarecrows were determined to grimly hang on, and four minutes in, Steve Brandon’s goalie interference penalty gave them the opportunity to do just that, Gustav-Hans Mohrs scoring on the power play to keep the game within a single score. And they might have been able to come back further, save for Kevin Smith’s slashing penalty 15 minutes in, which allowed Hunter Bob and the Mammoths to answer back--the third goal for Hunter Bob’s hatty, hats of Mammoths fans raining down onto the ice as Colorado opened the gap back up to a 2-score game.

With Hunter Bob clearly having young goalie Holmes’s number, Holmes was pulled and replaced with backup Michael Ryan, who would go on to play the last 23 minutes of the game.

3rd Period
Even with the Scarecrows’ two-goal deficit, they had opportunities to get themselves back into the game and squandered their offensive chances with minor penalties, forcing them to stay on the defense and winding their squad rather than being able to create more scoring chances. The Marc-Andre Malkin goal (with, of all things, a Michael Ryan assist) six minutes in once again brought the team within one score of Colorado with plenty of time left on the clock, but with two successive minor penalties at 9 and 11 minutes, their team simply ran out of gas. Colorado, for their part, firmly shut the door on the game at 16 minutes, the previously penalized Steve Brando tucking in the game-winner.

Stars
1 - Hunter Bob (COL) (3G)
2 - Glenn Sheamus (COL) (1G, 1A)
3 - Dos Diablo (STL) (1G)

Goalie Stats
Jacob Andrews (COL), 7 saves from 10 shots - (0.700), W, 6-4-3, 60:00 minutes
Michael Ryan (STL), 11 saves from 12 shots - (0.917), 22:50 minutes
Casey Holmes (STL), 12 saves from 16 shots - (0.750), L, 6-6-1, 37:10 minutes

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<div align="center">GAME 50
Kelowna Knights (4) vs. Halifax Raiders (5, SO)

Starting Line-Ups


Dieter Dominique © - Mikko Linna (LW) - Denis Lever (RW)
Mia Landvik (D1) - Fedor Shirobokov (D2)
Mikke Laukkanen (G)


Tastee Poussey © - Alexander Sorensen (LW) -Felix Herzog (RW)
Saint Jericho (D1) - Ace McCardle (D2)
Curtis Allison (G)


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1st Period

Though Kelowna veterans Dieter Dominique and Mikko Linna put up a great performance, their struggling defensive line could not get back to assist goalie Mikke Laukkanen, whose performance has been inconsistent this season (though improving significantly over last season). Nevertheless, Halifax came in heavily favored to win and on their home ice, and were surprised by the fight of the Knights team, a terrier they only barely shook off in the shutout victory.

The first period was fairly quiet for both sides. The Halifax crowd was energized by the Mia Landvik boarding call just over a minute into the first period, but fell silent after the Knights handily killed the penalty, frustrating the Halifax offense. Both sides then traded shots and puck possession until Bucky Lancaster of the Raiders put the first point on the board nineteen minutes in--the crowd roared, but Kelowna quickly answered with veterans Dominique, Linna, and Landvik getting the game-tying goal only twelve seconds later.

2nd Period

The second period was equally close-fought, as both teams battled to maintain control. With no penalties scored in the second, the game was a clean and technical display of puck possession prowess. Saint Jericho put the Raiders up above the Knights just under a minute into the period, but the game once again lapsed into stopped shots, defensive maneuvers, and stolen pucks until sixteen minutes in, when Dominique and Linna once again tied the game for the Knights. However, unlike the first period, the Knights’ second line rode that positive momentum, scoring a goal to put them one up on the Raiders just before the end of the period.

3rd Period and OT

For the first third of the third period, it looked like Kelowna might be able to hang onto their lead, but Darian Tupper’s hooking penalty at 7:34 gave Halifax an offensive opportunity. They capitalized at 8:02, Taystee Poussey scoring a power play goal, and with the home crowd back in the game, scored another goal shortly after at 9:41. But Kelowna just would not go down--the resilient Linna scored a game-tying goal in a heroic effort, only thirty seconds before the Raiders would have chalked the game up as a win. With no goal scored by the fairly evenly-matched teams in OT, the game went into a shootout, which Jack Dabkowski won for the home team, beating out rookie Mikael Talo for the game winner.

Stars
1 - Dieter Dominique (KEL) (2G, 1A)
2 - Mikko Linna (KEL) (1G, 2A)
3 - Saint Jericho (HAL) (1G, 1A)

Goalie Stats
Mikke Laukkanen (KEL), 24 saves from 28 shots - (0.857), OTL, 6-5-2, 64:58 minutes
Curtis Allison (HAL), 33 saves from 37 shots - (0.892), W, 5-2-0, 65:00 minutes