Unfortunately for Halifax, the turning point of the first period came extremely quick with a goal by Colorado's Anastasia O'Koivu.  After the rookie O'Koivu had been guilty of icing the puck earlier, Michael Scarn gained the Raptors possession by winning the defensive zone faceoff.  Scarn's second early faceoff win proved pivotal, as Colorado quickly exited the Halifax zone despite the tired Raptors players. Alexander Selich fired a shot wide of the Halifax net, but the puck rebounded off the boards a bit.  O'Koivu quickly picked up the loose puck laying to the side of the net and roofed it top shelf to open the game's scoring.  The first goal of the game came within the first two minutes and set the tone for the rest of the period. The Raptors would go on to add another tally later in the period, and Colorado went into the locker room up two goals thanks to O'Koivu and Nick Novak.  With the game in hand Colorado was confident in the locker room, while Halifax was left in catch-up mode.

Comment 2:

After some early second period saves from Halifax's goalie Mike McKorsy, the Raiders saw their fortunes turn a bit in the form of a Colorado Cassius Darrow holding penalty.  The Halifax power play went to work and Clifton Outlaw got the Raiders on the board.  After grinding out another goal to tie the game, the Raiders found themselves back on the power play exactly two minutes after their tying goal.  Raptors' Nick Brain was guilty of another hold and he anxiously watched from the penalty box as Mr. Faceoffs lived up to his name and won a crucial draw in the offensive zone.  This allowed the Raiders to establish their power play set-up, ultimately leading to a Matt Kholin goal and the Raiders celebrating behind the Colorado net.  The Raptors would tie the game again less than two minutes later on a Konstantin Voloshin marker, but this faceoff win and goal was key for the young Raiders team's confidence and helped them get stronger as the game went on.

Comment 3:

The teams were again tied going into the third period.  Colorado started the period with plenty of pressure in Halifax's zone, and they were ultimately rewarded for their efforts with an Alexander Selich tally near the midway mark of the period.  Still, Halifax's bench did not sag and Kristoffer Matsson's face-off prowess allowed the Raiders to put on some pressure of their own.  Colorado managed to put on a shot blocking clinic before Vegeta Muerto slipped a puck through the sea of Raptor bodies.  The puck missed the net, but Mikael Choybuk nabbed the puck behind the Raptors' defense.  Choybuk broke in all alone on the Raptor netminder Yuri Ushakov, and Choybuk put a little flair on the tying goal by going between his legs while depositing the puck over a sprawling Ushakov, who's last effort poke check proved to not be enough to keep the game four to three.  This was the pivotal moment of the third, as after only a small penalty scare to Colorado late in the period (Halifax was 2 for 5 previously) the game stayed deadlocked at four to four and would eventually need overtime and a shoot-out.