Callum Jones made his return from injury and Jeff Teat had nine points with five goals and four assists as the Black Bears defeated the Colorado Mammoth by a score of 14-9 at home.
GAME BREAKDOWN
The Mammoth opened the scoring 2:26 into the first quarter when Ryan Lee scored his 21st goal of the season to make it 1-0 in favour of Colorado.
Ben McDonald scored his second goal of the season for the Mammoth to make it 2-0 with 9:03 to play in the opening quarter.
A huge penalty kill from the Black Bears saw them kill off nearly 1:30 of a Colorado two-man advantage to keep it a two-goal game with just under 7:00 to play.
Jeff Teat opened the Black Bears’ scoring with his team-leading 35th goal of the season to cut the Mammoth’s lead to 2-1 with 5:30 to play in the first. Picking up the lone assist on the goal was Travis Longboat.
The captain doubled down for his second of the game with 37 seconds remaining in the quarter to tie things up at 2-2. Connor Kearnan received credit for the lone assist on Teat’s goal.
The Mammoth struck back to restore their lead at 3-2 with just five seconds left in the first quarter. Scoring the goal was Thomas Vela with his ninth of the season.
With the late goal from the Mammoth in the dying seconds of the quarter, the Black Bears headed into the second down by one at 3-2.
Reilly O’Connor tied the game back up at 3-3 with his 10th goal of the season at 3:08 into the second quarter. Assisting the goal were Jeff Teat and Taggart Clark.
A beautiful long ball from Reed Kurtz sprung Jeff Teat on a breakaway and the captain made no mistake finishing to complete the hat trick and give the Black Bears their first lead of the game. Coming at 5:45 into the second quarter, Kurtz picked up the lone assist on the goal to make it 4-3 for the Black Bears.
Less than a minute later, TJ Comizio responded for the Mammoth with his first goal of the season to tie it back up at 4-4.
It was back-to-back last minute goals in both the first and second quarters for the Black Bears as Travis Longboat scored his fourth as a Black Bear to give Ottawa a 5-4 lead with 42 seconds left. Receiving assists on the play were Reilly O’Connor and Connor Kearnan.
The Mammoth scored to tie things with just two seconds left in the second quarter, but the Black Bears were quick to challenge the play and upon review the goal was called off, keeping the Black Bears up by one.
After the late goal from Longboat and the successful challenge by the Black Bears, Ottawa went into halftime up by one at a score of 5-4.
Larson Sundown did what he does best as he scored his 21st goal from his signature spot behind the net to double the Black Bears’ lead to 6-4 just 2:44 into the third quarter. Reilly O’Connor picked up his third point of the game with the lone assist on Sundown’s goal.
The Mammoth got back within one two minutes later when Will Malcolm scored his team-leading 28th goal of the season to make it 6-5.
Ben McDonald scored his second goal of the game to tie the game back up at 6-6 with 8:23 to play in the third quarter.
With 7:27 left in the third, Will Malcolm scored his second goal of the game to give the Mammoth a 7-6 lead.
Tying the game at 7-7 with to 4:11 play in the third quarter was Eric Fannell with his third goal of the season. Fannell’s goal, an individual effort to pick up a loose ball, came unassisted.
The Black Bears restored their lead at 8-7 when Taggart Clark scored his 10th goal of the season with 2:34 to play in the third quarter. Jeff Teat picked up his fifth point of the night with the lone assist on the goal.
Connor Kearnan scored his 13th goal of the season on the power play with 20 seconds left in the third quarter to double the Black Bears’ lead to 9-7. Reilly O’Connor and Jeff Teat both picked up goals on the assist, which marked the third time the Black Bears scored in the final minute of play in the quarter this game.
Heading into the fourth and final quarter, the Black Bears held a two-goal lead at a score of 9-7 over the Mammoth.
The Black Bears wasted no time scoring again just 25 seconds into the fourth quarter. It was Jeff Teat with his fourth goal of the game to make it 10-7, while Callum Jones and Reed Kurtz each picked up an assist.
The Mammoth responded a minute later to make it 10-8 with Tyson Gibson’s second goal of the game.
At 2:07 into the fourth, Ryan Lee scored his third goal of the game to make it a one-goal game.
Connor Kearnan picked up his second power play goal of the game just 13 seconds into the man advantage at 2:37 to put the Black Bears back up by two. Larson Sundown earned his second point of the game with the lone assist on Kearnan’s goal.
Back for more was Jeff Teat with his fifth goal of the game to make it 12-9 for the Black Bears with 10:37 left to play. Connor Kearnan had the lone assist on Teat’s goal for this fifth point of the game.
At 6:33 into the fourth quarter, Eric Fannell scored his second goal of the night to put the Black Bears ahead by a score of 13-9. Jeff Teat and Connor Kearnan both continued their strong offensive outings with an assist each on the goal.
With seconds left in the game, Travis Longboat scored his second of the afternoon to secure the Black Bears win and make it 14-9. Picking up the lone assist on the goal was Reilly O’Connor with his fourth of the game.
The Black Bears will return to play on the road next week on Friday, March 28 when the team travels to Philadelphia to take on the Philadelphia Wings at 7:00 p.m. ET.
