Game 41 – Montreal :impact: at St Louis

The two teams would exchange goals just under 100 seconds into the game as Holmberg gave the Impact the lead with his 8th of the season, but the Scarecrows would tie just 12 seconds later on Beckner’s goal. St Louis would get called for 5 penalties in the period compared to just one on Montreal but the Impact couldn’t score on the power plays while the Scarecrows would add a late goal in the period to take a 2 to 1 lead into the second period. French would score the goal for the Scarecrows who were outshot by the Impact 7 to 4 in the period.

The Impact would tie the game at 2 to 2 a little more than halfway through the period on Karpotsov’s 16th of the season, but O’Ferghall would score against his former team to put the Scarecrows up 3 to 2 going into the third period. Both teams had two penalties called against them in the period while the Scarecrows outshot the Impact 10 to 8.

The first ten minutes of the third period had a couple of penalties, but no goals scored. However, Montreal would rattle off three goals in a six minute span to take a 5 to 3 lead. Falk, Burch and Gagner scored as Burch’s goal was on the power play. St Louis would not go away though as French scored his second of the game and a power play goal to pull the Scarecrows to within one and with just 8 seconds left in the game, Cahill tied it to send the game into overtime. Montreal outshot the Scarecrows 8 to 7 in the period.
Montreal outshot St Louis 4 to 0 in overtime, but could not score and the game went into the shootout. The first shooters were both stopped while Mack scored for the Impact and Wick was stopped for the Scarecrows. It all came down to Gerrard to win the game for the Impact and he did as Montreal won a wild one 6 to 5.

Lewis-Flood made 16 saves for his 3rd win of the season. Vader had one assist in the game and was a +1 in over twenty minutes. He also had three shot blocks.

Game 42 – Montreal :impact: at Vancouver

The Impact stayed on the road for their next game as they traveled to Vancouver to face the Whalers. Neither team would score in the first period as Montreal outshot the Whalers 8 to 5 as the Whalers had four penalties called against them versus none against the Impact.

MVP would take a penalty for the Whalers just 13 seconds into the second period and Montreal would cash in on the power play less than 30 seconds later as Holmberg netted his 9th of the season giving the Impact a 1 to 0 lead. This would be the only goal of the period as the Whalers outshot the Impact 10 to 6 in the period.

The first half of the third period was quiet as Montreal hung onto a 1 to 0 lead but the Whalers would tie it at 1 to 1 on Fuerto’s goal. Montreal would strike back with two goals, including one on the power play, to take a 3 to 1 lead with just under three minutes left in the game. Scoring for Montreal was Doughty with his 4th and Rowe with his 8th. James would pull the Whalers back to within one goal with less than a minute left but Montreal would shut the door the rest of the way and win the game 3 to 2. Montreal outshot the Whalers 10 to 8 in the period and 24 to 23 for the game.

Lewis-Flood got another start and another win, his 4th, with a 21 save game. Vader had two hits and two shot blocks in the game as he played just over eighteen minutes. Montreal was 2 for 8 on the power play while Vancouver was 0 for 3.

Game 43 – Halifax at Montreal :impact:

The two top teams in the conference face off in a game that will help the winner take control of the #1 seed for the playoffs. Montreal would come out in the first period and score not one, not two, but three power play goals to take a 3 to 0 lead after the first period. Burch scored his 18th, Holmberg with his 10th and Gerrard with his 22nd for the Impact who outshot the Raiders 14 to 6 in the period.

The Raiders would get a late power play chance in the second period and they would score with just one minute left in the period to cut the Impact lead to 3 to 1. Rosston scored the goal for the Raiders as they had 10 shots on goal compared to just 5 for the Impact in the second period.

Halifax would close to within one goal with about eight minutes left in the third period when Ross scored his 8th goal for the Raiders, but the Impact defense and goaltending would hold strong in those final minutes as Montreal won the game 3 to 2. The Impact had 12 shots on goal in the third compared to 7 for Halifax and the Impact outshot the Raiders 31 to 23 in the game.

Andersson made 21 saves in picking up his 23rd win of the season as his record is now 23-11-3 on the season. Vader did not have a point in the game and was also even. He had one shot and one shot block in over eighteen minutes of action.

Game 44 – St Louis at Montreal :impact:

After a wild game in St Louis recently, the two teams will go at it in Montreal. St Louis outshot the Impact 7 to 6 in the first period, but neither team would score as the game entered the second period tied at 0 to 0. Montreal had three power play chances while the Scarecrows had one.

On the power play early in the second period, Montreal would take a 1 to 0 on Falk’s 14th goal of the season just over two minutes into the period. Montreal would go right back on the power play again, but this time, the Scarecrows would score a shorthanded goal to tie the game at 1-1 on French’s 14th of the season. This would be the last goal of the period as the game went into the third period tied at 1 to 1. Montreal had 14 shots on goal compared to 7 for the Scarecrows.

St Louis would take a 2 to 1 lead just over three minutes into the third period as Plugstrom scored his 4th of the season and they would hold onto that lead until four minutes left in the game as Doughty tied it for the Impact with his 5th of the season to send the game into overtime.

St Louis would outshoot the Impact 3 to 1 in overtime but neither team would score as the game once again between the two teams headed into a shootout. The shootout round went through six shooters for both teams as none of them could score. St Louis’ 7th shooter was stopped and McDonald scored for the Impact to give them a 3 to 2 win.

Andersson made 23 saves for his 24th win of the season. In 21 minutes on the ice, Vader had one shot block and two penalty minutes.

Game 45 – Montreal :impact: at Halifax

Another big matchup between the two top teams in the conference with the Raiders looking to get revenge on a loss to the Impact just a few games ago. Neither team would score in the first period as the Raiders outshot the Impact 10 to 5 and the Raiders had three power play chances compared to none for the Impact.

Just 45 seconds into the second period, Macleod gave the Raiders a 1 to 0 lead with his 19th of the season. Less than two minutes later, Johnson tied the score for the Impact with his 10th of the season. Montreal would add two more goals later in the period, less than two minutes apart to take a 3 to 1 lead into the third period. Hamalainen scored his 5th and Gerrard added his 23rd for the Impact as they outshot the Raiders 8 to 4 in the period.

Montreal would score an early goal in the third period to push their lead to 4 to 1 on Doughty’s 6th of the season and Burch would add a late goal to make the final score 5 to 1. It was his 19th of the season as the Impact outshot the Raiders 14 to 6 in the period and 27 to 20 in the game.

Andersson made 19 saves on 20 shots as record rose to 25-11-3 on the season. Montreal was 1 for 1 on the power play while the Raiders were 0 for 5. Vader collected one assist in the game and was a +1 in twenty-three minutes. He also had one hit and one shot block in the win.