Brandon’s varsity hockey team has been involved in their share of thrillers recently.
Their most recent close contest came Wednesday, Dec. 21 at the Polar Palace in Lapeer, where the Blackhawks defeated Linden 4-3 in overtime on a goal by Matt Cinader, his second of the game.
Cinader’s overtime goal came just 35 seconds into the extra session. Linden’s Eric Barr had scored with just .38 left in the third period to force overtime.
Brandon’s Chris Nelson opened the scoring 1:08 into the game on an assist from Blake McLellan, then McLellan scored on an assist from Nelson with 2:02 left in the first period. The Blackhawks had a 2-0 lead at the end of the first.
Linden trimmed the Brandon lead to 2-1 with 8:20 left in the second period on a goal by Nick Poor, then tied the game at two with 12:06 left in the third period on a goal by Darren Cross.
Brandon reclaimed the lead, 3-2, with 5:45 left in the third period when Cinader scored his first goal of the game on an assist from Nelson. The score stayed that way until Barr’s last-second goal prompted the overtime session.
Blackhawks goalie Jeff Hammond stopped 17-of-20 Linden shots (85 percent), while Linden goalie David Sheltrow stopped 21-of-25 Brandon shots (84 percent).