Goalie Brock Hansell’s right pad was the difference in a marathon shootout between the Listowel Cyclones and Stratford Cullitons.
It took nine rounds to decide the winner in the Junior B hockey game played at the Allman Arena in Stratford Sunday night.
Ken Rolph, who had earlier tied the game 2-2 and forced overtime, converted his shootout attempt to set up Hansell’s heroics.
The win provided a vital two points for Listowel (21-16-1) as they jumped back into third place in the Midwestern Conference, a spot they had relinquished in a 5-0 defeat at home to the Brantford Golden Eagles on Friday.
The visitors staked out a 2-0 lead by the time the game was 10 minutes old.
“They’re a hard team to come back against,” said Listowel coach/GM Mike Brooks. “They capitalized on a couple mistakes and we weren’t able to capitalize on our opportunities, and that dictated the whole game.”
Five different Eagles scratched the goal-scoring column while netminder Daryl Borden shut down the Cyclone’s attack.
It didn’t take long for the group to bounce back from the blanking, as Eric Deckers drew first blood with his 14th of the season just six minutes into the Stratford match.
The league trade deadline came and went without a significant move on the local front, so the team will wind down the season and head into the playoffs with the current roster.
“We made a few calls and kicked some tires, but there weren’t a lot of teams moving,” Brooks said.
The upcoming weekend schedule offers a chance at four points with a pair of sub-.500 teams on deck.
This Friday they host the Elmira Sugar Kings (16-17-4) at 7:30 p.m. at Listowel Memorial Arena before heading to the Kinsmen Arena on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. to battle the Kitchener Dutchmen (11-26-1).
They’ll be without defenceman Kyle Goss for the foreseeable future as Brooks said he’ll be out for six to eight weeks after being injured in practice.