BRAMPTON, Ontario – With wins in back-to-back games over the Quad City Mallards, the Brampton Beast are officially on a roll. And while it didn’t come easy for the home team on Friday night, the Beast were able to rally around an incredible 48-save performance from goaltender Trevor Cann to overcome an early first-period deficit and emerge victorious in the 2-1 overtime win.
On a night where the Beast paid tribute to one of the greatest Toronto Maple Leaf goalies to ever play the game, Johnny Bower, it only seemed fitting that Cann would rise to the challenge of backstopping his team to their second consecutive win despite being outshot 49-37.
The Brampton Beast gave the former Leaf legend a standing ovation during the pre-game warm-up, as the 90-year-old netminder took to the ice in a limousine for the ceremonial opening faceoff. But while things started off on the right foot for Brampton, they soon found themselves down a goal after Justin Fox pounced on a bouncing puck in front of the Beast net to score top corner on his own rebound and third shot of the play.
It was a turning point for the home team, and an opportunity they did not waste.
Perhaps channelling shades of Bower’s former magic in the crease, Cann would go on to stop everything else the Mallards could throw at him for the rest of the night, giving his team the chance to claw back into the game.
It took until the second period for the Beast to come alive, with the line of Tyson Fawcett, Tyler Donati and Chad Painchaud having multiple chances around the net before connecting on Fawcett’s first of the season with just over five minutes to play in the period.
The line would have another quality look at the net less than a minute later, with Fawcett looking for his second only to hit the crossbar behind Quad City’s Evan Mosher.
It was a tie game heading into the third with the shots favouring the Mallards by a margin of 31-to-29, and the visiting team would come out of the dressing room with a vengeance. Cann would go on to make several highlight-reel saves on the 18 shots thrown his way in the period as Brampton hung on to force the extra frame.
When overtime hit, it didn’t take long for the Beast to find their groove, as the top line once again showed true chemistry. Breaking out from his own zone, Donati sent a nifty between-the-legs pass to Painchaud, who crossed the blue line in the offensive zone and sent the puck between his own legs to Elgin Reid on the far side. Reid took one glace towards the goal before sending the puck back to Painchaud at the side of the net, who beat Mosher under the arm to secure the second win, and second in a row, for the Beast.
With the victory, Brampton improves to 2-5-1 on the season and has a real chance of winning the 5-game series against the Mallards when they welcome Quad City back to the Powerade Centre on Sunday at 2:00 pm for Canadian Forces Day.
With Brampton Beast team release
Contact the photographer: john.warren@prohockeynews.com