By Jeff Patrus
Sports Writer
Heading into postseason action, the Brandon hockey team gave their fans a regular-season thriller.
The Blackhawks? Steve Tallman tallied a goal just 10 seconds into overtime to give host Brandon a 6-5 win against Flint Metro League rival Lapeer East in the Blackhawks? home finale Feb. 19.
With the win, the Blackhawks improved to 19-1-1 on the season. Brandon has three regular season games left on their schedule: Feb. 23 against St. Clair, Feb. 25 against Oxford, and Feb. 26 against Bloomfield Hills Unified.
The Blackhawks open playoff action March 1 against LakeVille.
Brandon coach Brian Moore said he likes his team’s play heading into the postseason. ‘We had a tricky game against Lapeer East, but we came back and won it,? he said. ‘We should be in good shape.
Brandon’s Mike Cybulski forced the extra session by scoring with 2:43 left in the third period on an assist from Scott Thurman.
Kyle Jackson notched a hat trick for the Blackhawks, scoring his first goal of the contest just 15 seconds into the game on assists from Mike Ross and Cybulski.
However, the Eagles struck back with three straight goals in the first period to take a 3-1 lead at the end of the period.
Brandon would not be denied, though, scoring three goals in the second period to take a 4-3 lead at the end of the period.
After Lapeer East’s Tom Allen was penalized for high sticking, Jackson scored a power play goal, his second of the game, at 5:03 of the second period on assists from Ross and Chris Nuccio.
Ross then followed up a minute later with a goal of his own (assisted by Tallman) to tie the game at three, then Jackson completed his hat trick with 4:05 left in the second as Ross notched his third assist of the game to give Brandon the lead.
However, the Panthers? John Estelle completed a hat trick of his own with 5:35 left in the third to tie the game at four, then Chad Robson put the Panthers up 5-4 with 4:45 left in the third, setting up Brandon’s last-minute heroics.
Brandon goalie David Hughes stopped 22-of-27 shots (81.5 percent), while his Lapeer East counterpart, Robert Cavanaugh, stopped 31-of-37 shots (83.8 percent).