Sometimes you lose one you probably deserved to win. Other times you win one you probably deserved to lose.
In all honesty it was probably the latter for the Guelph Storm Friday night at the Sleeman Centre.
After playing a muddling 45 minutes of hockey during which goaltender Anthony Popovich held them in the game, the Storm found some magic, rallying from a three-goal deficit in the third period to tie it then scoring in overtime for a 5-4 victory over the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
Isaac Ratcliffe scored the winner, redirecting a perfect pass from Ryan Merkley with the Storm on the power play.
"We weren't very good for the first 45, maybe 50 minutes," Storm coach George Burnett said, "but we found a little life.
"We could have rolled over at 4-1, but we didn't. We found a way," Burnett said.
That life was a goal by Cam Hillis and two by Liam Hawel, the second tying the game 4-4 with 4:09 left in regulation.
"It wasn't our best game but we played one of our best 10 minutes we have all year in that third period," said Ratcliffe, who scored twice Friday.
"After those two quick goals at the start of the third period, most teams would have shut down then, but we didn't."
The Storm benefited from a power play at the end of the third and then another in overtime, a holding call on Cole MacKay when he grabbed Cedric Ralph who had a step on him cutting to the net.
Burnett rightly said that it was a good job the Storm scored the winner because the four guys on the ice were dog tired and it could have been a different result if the penalized player had stepped out of the box with fresh legs.
"Ultimately they got the job done and they're the guys that are supposed to get the job done."
The Storm benefited from another outstanding performance from Popovich in net. He was brilliant, stopping 43 shots, including all 17 he faced in the second period.
"That's four games in a row where he's performed at a very high level," Burnett said.
"He's been our backbone these last three games," Ratcliffe said. "He faced a tonne of tough shots tonight and he was there to bail us out when we needed it."
Sault goalie Matthew Villalta made his return to the crease after missing a couple of weeks after being cut by a linesman's skate during warm-up. He made 22 saves.
Guelph plays in Barrie Saturday night and Burnett said Nico Daws will be getting the start in net. Popovich is scheduled to return Sunday when they play in North Bay.
Next home game is Friday when the Oshawa Generals visit.
