BIDDEFORD, ME– Five seconds. That’s all that separated the Danbury Colonials from a guaranteed point and a regulation defeat tonight as the Maine Wild snatched a last-second 5-4 victory.
The back-and-forth affair began with a Colonials powerplay goal, at this point a common occurrence in the season. Misha Mshar banged home a loose puck after a Connor Lefkof rush. Maine found an answer just 90 seconds later as Owen Dubois knotted the score.
The Wild would seize the lead early in the second period, only to see it evaporate just 10 seconds later when Kevin Remson sniped his fourth goal in five games. Danbury would pepper Maine netminder Tom Spero relentlessly in the frame, assaulting him with 24 shots on goal. Still, the Colonials were unable to reclaim a lead as they entered the final frame tied at three.
A beautiful passing sequence from the Colonials’ lethal trio of Kyle McEnany to Brandon Cope to Kolby Donovan evened the score after falling behind 3-2.
Luke Church gave Maine the advantage 1:17 into the final period, and despite another furious barrage of shots, the Colonials found themselves stymied at every turn. With the net vacated for an extra skater and just over one minute on the clock, McEnany found Donovan in the high slot, bringing the game back to even.
But alas, ’twas not to be. A netmouth scramble as time ticked away resulted in Church potting his second of the game past Shane O’Brien with 5.6 seconds to go.
The Colonials finished with a 57-24 shot advantage.
“The Wild really took advantage of their chances tonight,” head coach Kevin Cunningham shrugged after the game. “They earned a well-deserved win. We had a number of high-quality chances and just were not able to create any separation in the game.”
“A couple of posts and their stellar goaltending, it made it too difficult for us to compensate for our errors,” he added.
The Colonials will be back in action tomorrow afternoon at 3:10 p.m. for a rematch with the Wild.
