Austin Kofler celebrates his tying goal late in the second period that helped lead to a big win in Game 2 for the Ice Hawks. // Tav Morrison photo
After a tough loss on Monday night, the Delta Ice Hawks evened the series Tuesday night by icing out the Richmond Sockeyes by a 5-1 score at the Ladner Leisure Centre.
Zach Shaughnessy had a big bounce back night, allowing just one goal on 25 shots and making some crucial stops in difficult situations, including a 2-on-0 early in the third period of what was then a tie game.
The one goal was in the first period while Richmond was on the penalty kill, with Nicholas Noren poking it under Shaughnessy’s glove for a 1-0 Sockeyes lead, scoring the only goal in the opening frame and their only goal of the game.
That held up until 33 seconds left in the second period, when Austin Kofler picked up a loose puck out front and skated around to Noah Stenvig’s right side and put it in past him before he could slide over to tie the game with Kofler’s second goal of the playoffs.
It was all Ice Hawks in the third period with four goals for the home team, starting with a unique goal from Kofler to get the Hawks rolling. Richmond looked to send the puck around the net, but Kofler was on the forecheck and got his stick in the lane, causing the puck to ricochet into the back of the net for the eventual game-winning goal.
Kofler then tallied an assist on the next goal, blocking a shot and heading out on a 2-on-0 with Michele Romeo. Kofler passed to Romeo at the last second, getting Stenvig to bite and leaving a gaping net for Romeo to punch it home.
Adding on, Yuji Akimoto sent a stretch pass up to Colin Jang, and Jang sniped far corner for his third of the playoffs to make it a 4-1 lead for the Hawks. It was followed a few minutes later by Payton Hu taking advantage of a fall from a Sockeyes defender and showing off his moves for a show-stopping goal to wrap up the 5-1 win for the Hawks to tie the series up 1-1.
