It was again a bit of a horror when Aalborg Pirates and Esbjerg Energy had to go into overtime to find a winner of the second semi-final match. With a defeat in the first semi-final match, Aalborg Pirates had put some pressure on themselves before match two in Esbjerg.
In a sold-out Granly Hockey Arena, Aalborg Pirates emerged victorious from a real overtime horror, but it was tough for an Aalborg team that otherwise won the shooting statistics 60-19.
The pirate ship came safely from shore. In the first half of the first period, it was close to one-way traffic towards the Esbjerg goal, but the home team was constantly on the lookout for a counter. The Aalborg takeover resulted in a score by Jeppe Jul Korsgaard, but the joy over the lead was short-lived.
Shortly after the lead goal, Anders Koch was sent off, and in the subsequent power play, Oliver Kjær equalized. The rest of the first period was a messy game of hockey, but it was the home team that was clearly the closest to scoring the third goal of the game.
Among other things, Csanad Erdely had a huge opportunity to put Esbjerg ahead when he had a completely empty goal to poke the puck into, but somehow he managed to send the black piece of plastic past the goal.
Esbjerg Energy – Aalborg Pirates 2-3 (after overtime)
- Ice hockey, Metalligaen
- Periodecifre: 1-1, 1-1, 0-0, 0-1
- Goals: 0-1 Jeppe Jul Korsgaard (10.17), 1-1 Oliver Kjær (12.16), 2-1 Brandon Magee (32.31), 2-2 Tommy Giroux (36.15), 2-3 Jeppe Jul Korsgaard (65.41)
- Sent-off minutes: Esbjerg 6, Aalborg 4
- Spectators: 4191
- The series is thus tied at 1-1. The next match will be played on Sunday in Aalborg.
In the second period, it was again Aalborg Pirates who started the period best. Both Thomas Spelling and Nikolaj Carstensen had attempts that hit the target.
There was a different sharpness in Esbjerg’s final game. West Jutland went straight for the goal when the chance presented itself, and it paid off when Brandon Magee created cheers in the Granly Hockey Arena with his score to make it 2-1.
Now it was really time to see what the pirates are made of. Behind in both the series and the game, it was time to find something else, and Tommy Giroux did. First he got Aalborg a power play after a free runner. In the subsequent powerplay, he had the last stick on an excellent attack, where a couple of quick passes created the 2-2 goal.
During the second period, Esbjerg tried to add some more physicality to the tackles, but Aalborg Pirates responded well to that. Instead of agreeing to West Jutland’s desire to create a physical match, Aalborg Pirates played hockey.
After the first 40 minutes, Aalborg led the shot statistics 37-12, but the score was 2-2. Mathias Seldrup had a very nice game going on in the Esbjerg goal. That trend continued in the third period, where he again took everything the Pirates players sent his way.
Again, Esbjerg was dangerous on his thrusts, and there were a few more dangerous situations around George Sørensen’s goal, but he followed suit in terms of keeping the cage clean. For the third period in a row, Aalborg had the most attempts on goal, but for the third period in a row, Esbjerg managed to be at least as dangerous in its offensive actions as the North Jutland side were.
As the minutes went by, and the ice was driven up more, it was clear that the two teams did not take quite the same chances as they had done earlier in the game. It was safety first, and that mindset sent the two teams into the second overtime decision in a row.
In the fourth period, Aalborg got a power play, which they did not manage particularly well. There was immediately more style to the game in five against five. Here, Aalborg Pirates scored the decisive goal when Jeppe Jul Korsgaard appeared and fought a return puck into the net to rarely seen big cheers for the Aalborg players.
With the 3-2 victory, the score is now 1-1 in the semi-final series, which is played in the best of seven games. Match three will be played in Aalborg on Sunday.
2024-03-29 21:13:19
#Aalborg #Pirates #hit #overtime #drama