HIGHLIGHTS:

A wild opening game kicked off a fast and furious two-game total-point series between the Theodore Buffaloes and Carlyle Cougars on Saturday night.

In less than 26 hours, both games will be played with the first one being held in the Carlyle Sports Arena. And it has quickly become a very physical and emotional series for both teams and their fans.

The first period went like any other, with scoring chances for both teams and both Josh Hohn for Carlyle and Kevin Dziaduck for Theodore playing solid in net. It would be the visiting Buffaloes opening the scoring in the series with Jeremy Johnson snapping a shot five-hole to give Theodore a 1-0 lead after the first period. 

Ryly Stefanyshyn Had Two Points For Theodore In The Game.

Theodore would earn a 5-on-3 powerplay five minutes into the second period to try and extend their lead, but were unsuccessful. Shortly thereafter, the Cougars capitalized on a 3-on-2 rush with Wyatt Garagan picking top corner to tie the game at 1-1. 

On the next shift, Ben Johnstone would fire a shot and his follow-through caught Theodore's Josh Garbutt in the face. After no initial penalty call, the officials gave Johnstone a 4-minute double-minor and the Buffaloes would make this powerplay opportunity count. Hohn stopped an initial shot but the rebound kicked out to the faceoff dot where Ryly Stefanyshyn sniped the corner to give Theodore a 2-1 lead. 

A Scrum After Bret Peppler Was Knocked Out By A High Hit.

Then, a scary incident with 1:41 to go in the second period. While shorthanded, Theodore leading scorer Bret Peppler attempted to clear the puck from his own end down the ice. On a race to the puck, Cougars defenceman Preston Erickson finished a hard check on Peppler that caught him up high and knocked Peppler briefly unconscious. A scrum ensued on the play as well, with Peppler lying on his back for close to ten minutes. EMT's on site helped attend to Peppler and the bodyboard was brought onto the ice, but thankfully not needed. Peppler eventually sat up, then was helped to his feet and escorted to the dressing room. Peppler did not return to the game.

Erickson was issued a 5-minute major penalty for checking-to-the-head and a game misconduct. Also on the play, Carlyle's Brett Turgeon and Theodore's Chris McCallister got in a scrum and both were give two minutes for roughing and 10-minute misconducts. The rink was flooded with 1:41 remaining and the teams would return to fresh ice to finish off the second period. When play resumed, no team would score and Theodore remained up 2-1 after 40 minutes of play.

In the third period, the Cougars would start to take over. Minutes into the period, a harmless-looking point shot from Blair Toms was deflected by forward Marc Shaw and into the top corner to tie the game at 2-2. 

The Cougars Celebrate Marc Shaw's Tying Goal.

With less than ten minutes to play, Carlyle would take their first lead of the game. Johnstone, who shifted from forward to defence filling in for Erickson, picked up the puck in the neutral zone and raced down the wing. Johnstone would fake a quick shot and then execute a perfect wrap-around goal past Dziaduck to put the Cougars up 3-2 with 7:47 left in regulation.

Then, with 5:35 left to play, we would see our second checking-to-the-head major of the game. This one though was given to the Buffaloes after Derrick Schwartz caught an unsuspecting Turgeon in the neutral zone with a high hit. Thankfully, Turgeon was not seriously injured on the play but Schwartz was still given the game misconduct, essentially putting Carlyle on the powerplay for the rest of the game. 

Dylan Herzberg's Late PP Goal Gave Carlyle A Two-Goal Lead.

On the powerplay, Theodore would take a hooking minor and Carlyle would go on a 5-on-3 with a chance to extend their lead heading back to Theodore. The Cougars made no mistake, with Dylan Herzberg having a loose puck bounce to him and finished top corner to close off Game #1 with a 4-2 victory for Carlyle.

Throughout the third period, there was plenty of chatter back-and-forth between some fans in Carlyle to both the Theodore players and Theodore fans across the rink. Nothing of significance would occur, but the series will definitely have an edge to it as it shifts back to Theodore for Game #2 on Sunday night at 8pm.

OTHER SCORES

The Wawota Flyers and Raymore Rockets tied Game #2 by a 4-4 score on Saturday night. Raymore wins the two-game/total-point series 8-6 after a victory in Game #1. Wawota is eliminated, while Raymore plays the winner of Carlyle/Theodore in the next round.