The second day of the Joe Raymond Holiday Hockey Classic pitted the USM Wildcats against KMMO Lasers, two teams from the Classic Eight Conference. Both teams were aggressive and physical for all 59 minutes, but the Wildcats came out victorious.

KMMO scored early in the first period to give them a lead they wouldn’t give up until the third period. USM netminder, Bryan Botcher, went to cover the right side of the net when Lasers defenseman Miks Grundmanis took a shot that trickled through his legs. The refs were slow to blow the whistle until they could get a better look at the puck sitting in the back of the net. Jonathan Carfagna earned an assist on the goal.

The next period and a half of play was riddled with penalties, both teams having several opportunities with a man-advantage.

USM’s penalty kill unit remained strong defensively and did not give up a goal during the time that they spent shorthanded in the first period.

Three different players served time in the box for USM:  Peter Barney for interference, Chris Keliher for cross-checking and Hayden Brown for charging and head contact.

The first half of the second period tilted in favor of KMMO until a penalty was assessed to Brandon Beier for tripping with 7:40 to play, which changed the momentum in USM’s favor for the rest of the period.

After two periods, the Lasers were outshooting the Wildcats 25-13.

Both teams came out even stronger and harder hitting in the third period, but KMMO goaltender Max LeClaire fended off the Wildcats until they tied it up 10:28 into the last period. Ben Hrabak was able to get the puck past LeClaire before Tommy Ferarra took it home. Charlie Borges also earned an assist on the play.

A penalty on USM’s Ferarra for holding with 4:29 left to play gave KMMO one last opportunity to win the game, but Botcher held his ground and stopped all of the shots that came his way.

Eight minutes of overtime passed without a score, and the teams headed into a shootout.

Allan Moutvic of KMMO had the first opportunity where he tried to deke right and shoot the puck backhanded into the net. Botcher stood strong and made the save.

Vadim Sukhanov took the stage for USM, but he shot wide of the net. Lasers’ Connor Freedman and Wildcats’ Nick Epperson were both unable to score.

It came down to USM’s last shooter:  Duncan Brown. He took the puck up the ice and scored 5-hole on LeClaire to get the shootout win for the USM Wildcats.