Furious Third Lifts Caps Over BC 6-4
The built up like a Hollywood blockbuster; A slow start as both teams figured each other out, an exciting second act as one team took the edge, and an over-the-top, goal crashing crescendo that brought the house down. As the dust settled, Topeka stood victorious over the Junior Revolution 6-4.
The first period was marked by little more than a flurry of penalties by both teams as they each sought to assert their dominance on the ice and the minds of their opponent. It wasn't until the second period that Topeka began to emerge when Luke Thom dented the scoreboard on a power play (assisted by Kole Hudson at 8:05), drawing first blood in favor of the Caps. That jab was returned by Battle Creek off the stick of Hampton Hastings making it a 1-1 game. With the clock winding down, Luke Thom struck again (unassisted at 18:54) to put the Caps in control 2-1 heading into the third.
But control went out the window in the final period as did defense and predictability. Halfway through the final frame, Hardijis Kupaks (assisted by Jayden Munnelly) added to the Caps lead with a netter at 10:57 giving them a more managable 3-1 cushion. The Revolution battled back at 13:48 on the power play with a Michael Lawrence goal that cut the lead back to one. It took Munnelly less than a minute to grab his second point of the game and return it to two-point lead at 14:33 (assisted by Kupaks). Uncowed, Lawrence kept BC in the game with another score, this one coming at 16:50, and it was 4-3 Caps. Kupaks stepped back into the breach at 17:17 to split the pipes again (assisted by Nick Rizzo and Joe Stoneburner) and it looked like the Caps had finally put the game away. But in the final minute with the goalie pulled and an extra attacker, Eric Tucker made it 5-4. Fifty-nine seconds and one point seperated the Caps from a win and with 20 seconds remaining, Nick Rizzo put it away with an empty netter and set the final score at 6-4.
Topeka and Battle Creek will do it all over again at 1:30pm. Fans can catch all of the action on FastHockey.com or follow the scoring updates on the Capitals Facebook page in real-time. For more information on tickets to upcoming Caps games at Landon Arena, call 785-286-PUCK or visit www.topekacapitals.com.