Furious Third Period Rally Lifts Steele County Blades to Overtime Victory

The Steele County Blades rallied from a three-goal deficit in the final five minutes of regulation Saturday night to force overtime and beat Wisconsin Rapids 6-5.

The rally began on a nifty deflection by Colton Sprenger at 15:00 of the third period off a shot by Jagr Wasem to pull the Blades within 5-3 against the Riverkings. It was a rare even-strength goal on a night that saw seven of the 11 goals coming on power plays. Steele County scored with a 5-on-3 advantage at 17:19 as Josh Gouin scored his second of the night to make the score 5-4.

With time running out and Blades goalie Mike Severson pulled for an extra attacker, Zach Bettmeng got a deflection on a blast by Chase Wedding to tie the game with 6.89 seconds remaining and send the game to overtime tied at 5-5.

The last of 25 penalties was called 2:27 into the extra session on division-leading Wisconsin Rapids and the Blades deposited the game winner 13 seconds later on Gouin's hat trick goal.

Wisconsin Rapids started the night with a five-minute power play after a checking from behind penalty and scored twice. Gouin scored late in the first to cut the deficit to 2-1 after the first period. The Riverkings scored midway through the second for a 3-1 lead.

The next goal featured a pair of hockey oddities, an own-goal and a goalie getting credit for a goal. With a delayed penalty coming against Steele County, Wisconsin Rapids pulled their goalie for an extra attacker. After moving the puck around the offensive zone, they missed on a pass that went the length of the ice into their own net. After a bit of discussion it was determined the last Blades player to touch the puck was goalie Severson, giving him his first career goal.

The Riverkings extended their lead to 5-2 before Steele County rallied for the win on I-Wealth corporate night at the Four Seasons Centre.

Wisconsin Rapids won the rematch on Sunday 2-0, outshooting the Blades 40-18. The Riverkings had nine power play chances, converting on one of them. Steele County hosts Blaine on Tuesday, January 24, at 7:30PM.