Win Streak Snapped in OT Heartbreaker at Burnaby

The Victoria Shamrocks' five-game winning streak came to an end Friday night, as the Burnaby Lakers escaped with a 10-9 overtime win at Bill Copeland Arena. It's a tough way to see the streak snap, but the loss doesn't move Victoria out of first place in the WLA standings, and the way the Shamrocks clawed back from a two-goal deficit in the third period showed exactly why they're still there.

Victoria opened the scoring just 58 seconds in on a goal from Zach Manns. Ben Stewart answered for Burnaby a few minutes later, and from there the Lakers' top line took over. Joel McCormick, Ryan Favaro, Finn Halladay, and Ethan M'Lot combined for eight of Burnaby's 10 goals, including two power-play markers from Favaro, as the Lakers built a 4-3 lead after one and a 6-4 edge heading into the third.

Victoria answered with its best stretch of the night. Marshal King, Jacob Hickey, and Derek Lloyd scored four unanswered goals in under two minutes, King getting two of them, to turn that 6-4 deficit into an 8-6 lead, and Manns' third goal of the night made it 9-7 with just over six minutes to go.

McCormick wasn't finished. He cut the lead to one with about five minutes left, then delivered the gut punch: with Burnaby's net empty for an extra attacker, McCormick beat Victoria's defence with 12 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 9 and force overtime. Ethan M'Lot ended it 6:19 into the extra frame, finishing a feed from Halladay and Jaxon Fridge.

The night's three stars told the story: Burnaby's Joel McCormick took first with four goals and two assists, Victoria captain Marshal King earned second with four goals and an assist of his own, and Burnaby's Ben Stewart rounded out the stars with a goal. King, who took over the "C" this season, matched McCormick stride for stride, and Zach Manns finished with a hat trick alongside him. Victoria also won the shot battle convincingly, out-shooting Burnaby 58-43, a clear sign the offence is generating chances even on the road. Special teams made the difference in the end: in a relatively low penalty minute game that saw eight total minor penalties called, Burnaby converted two of its power-play chances while Victoria came up empty on its own.

Friday's result was the second-to-last stop on Victoria's extended road trip. The Shamrocks close it out Sunday in Maple Ridge before returning home to The Q Centre for a tailgate party and a rematch with the Maple Ridge Burrards on Friday, July 3rd at 6:30pm. Tickets are available now at VictoriaShamrocks.com.