The Virden Oil Capitals season came to an end on Tuesday night at Tundra Oil & Gas Place when Tanner Jago of the Terriers scored at the 10:16 mark of the second overtime period to eliminate the Oil Caps from the Manitoba Junior Hockey League playoffs.
The elimination game took place last night where another impressive crowd of 1,111 were in attendance to help the Oil Caps try to force a fifth game in the series. However, it was the Terriers that deflated the crowd early on as Boyd struck again for his fourth goal in four games against the Caps. Then with just 14 seconds to play in the opening period, Shawn Bowles put the Terriers up 2-0 with his first of the series.
Just when it might have been as easy of a time as ever to fold the tent, the Oil Caps showed no quit in them. The team rallied with a pair of second period goals from Lucas Oliver and Soren Frederiksen to tie the game up at 2-2 after 40 minutes.
Digger had the fans fired up following the Oil Caps late third period goal.
The newly generated energy in the building was slightly deflated in the third when Garick Gray scored to put the Terriers ahead 3-2. But once again, the Oil Caps responded with 1:09 to play in the third with a goal from the Captain, Ben Williams, bringing the crowd into frenzy. Williams took a high stick from Valiquette on the play that saw him lose two teeth as he redirected the Jordan Greig point shot.
The goal forced overtime that saw the teams skate through the first extra period with nothing decided. Period five on the night opened up a bit with chances at both ends of the ice. Finally at the 10:06 mark of the second overtime period, Jago jumped on a loose puck in the slot and wristed it perfectly through traffic in front of Kuehn to give the Terriers a 4-3 decision.
Jordan Greig, Lucas Oliver, and Ben Williams were named the Altus Geomatics three stars respectively for the night. Sean Kuehn finished the night making 28 saves while Laforest turned aside 26 of 28.
Virden finished the night with 28 shots on goal while Sean Kuehn made 28 saves on the night in the loss. The Oil Caps are officially eliminated from the Manitoba Junior Hockey League playoffs while the Terriers now move on to face the winner of the Steinbach Pistons and defending champion, Winnipeg Blues.
Tuesday night marked the end for seven of the Oil Caps players Junior careers. Lucas Oliver, Clay Van Diest, Owen Solecki, Kurt Johnas, Jordan Greig, Ben Williams, and Soren Frederiksen each become the latest members of the Oil Caps alumni group. The organization wishes each of these players all the best in the future endeavours.
Oil Caps and Terriers players take part in their handshakes before a standing applause from the Oil Caps faithful.
The Oil Caps organization will now focus on the off-season moving forward. The team will host their annual spring camp during the month of May when prospects from around the province will travel to Virden to showcase their skills.
Stay up to date with all the latest information following the team during the summer months by following the Oil Caps on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.