The championship A-division men's hockey final is shaping up to be quite a series.
Mike Cote capped a four-point night on Tuesday, getting his hattrick goal with three seconds to go in overtime as the Inlet Raiders edged the Suncoast Flyers 5-4.
The win evened the best-of-five series at 1-1 after the Flyers won the opener last Saturday 5-2.
Tuesday's game went back and forth with several lead changes and high drama.
Cote scored first, set up by Chris Young and Dave McLennan, to put the Raiders up 1-0 in the opening stanza.
Mike Eistetter evened things up as he scored with 35 seconds to go in the period. Cody Upson and Curtis Munson assisted, and the score was 1-1 after the first.
The Raiders took the lead early in the second as Jarred Rutley scored his first of the playoffs. McLennan and Cam Yarrow picked up the assists.
The Raiders upped their advantage to 3-1 early in the third as Cote scored an unassisted marker. But the Flyers weren't about to surrender early.
A pair of goals in just over two minutes by Jordi Radymski tied the game at 3-3. Carey Rumba, Upson, Taylor Waters and Kyle Vaughn picked up the assists.
The Flyers took the lead as Danny Baker scored from Drew Johnson with seven minutes to go, and it looked like the Flyers would grab a stranglehold on the series.
But the Raiders used their veteran leadership and got the tying goal with 18 seconds to go as Bill Stockwell scored.That set the stage for a wild overtime and Cote's marker for the winner.
In Tuesday's opener, Baker led the Flyers with a goal and one assist, while Mike Lewis chipped in a goal and an assist. Solo markers went to Johnson and Upson. McLennan and Young replied for the Raiders.
Game three in the series was played last night (Thursday) past Coast Reporter deadlines. Game four is tonight (Friday) at 7 p.m. with a potential fifth and deciding game Saturday night at 8:45 p.m.
