In the span of 48 hours, the Winterhawks have gone from a 2-0 series lead, to the brink of elimination.
Following a
collapse in Game 3, the Winterhawks went on the road for Game 4 and 5 in their best-of-seven series with the Creemore Coyotes and could not find a way to win.
A low scoring affair on Saturday in Creemore, the game was scoreless until midway through the second period when Creemore got on the board with a power play goal.
Creemore picked up another power play late in the second period, which continued into the third period.
The Winterhawks were one second away from killing it off when the Coyotes extended their lead to 2-0.
The Coyotes made it a commanding 3-0 lead a minute-and-a-half later.
Miles MacLean got the Winterhawks on the board on the power play at 8:03 of the third, from Luke Pither and Trent Hawke to make it 3-1, but that was as close as the Winterhawks could get, knotting the series at two games apiece.
Game 4 Boxscore
Game 5 went Sunday on neutral ice in Shelburne, and again, a lack of finish came back to haunt the Winterhawks.
The Winterhawks came out strong and controlled the play early, but ended up on the penalty kill in short order.
As the penalty was ticking down, a goalmouth scramble ensued after Jeff Flagler made the initial save off a shot from the slot.
Flagler attempted to squeeze the puck between his pads as he sat in the crease, but it came loose and as both teams wildly tried to get at the rubber, the Coyotes chipped it over the prone goalie just as the referee was blowing the whistle.
The Winterhawks picked up two power play opportunities, but Mason Kameka would not give up anything, aided by a couple quick whistles on loose pucks in the Creemore crease.
The one-goal deficit held until early in the second period.
Miles MacLean knotted the score at 1-1 at 4:46 when he fired a low shot under the pad of Kameka, assisted by Andy Fracz and Josh Deyell.
The Winterhawks picked up a power play shortly after the goal, but a sloppy breakout in their own zone lead to a turnover to the Coyotes, who buried the shorthanded goal to restore the lead just over two minutes after MacLean's equalizer.
Creemore added one more late in the period to take a 3-1 lead to the third period.
The Winterhawks came out strong again in the third period, drawing an early power play when the Coyotes barreled into Flagler, drawing a goaltender interference penalty.
Chad Jones continued his strong series, blasting a point shot at 4:44 that was stopped by Kameka, but Logan Freiburger was right there to shovel the rebound into the net to make it a 3-2 game with plenty of time left on the clock.
The Winterhawks lack of luck certainly was on display when they picked up yet another power play midway through the period.
Off the draw, Medric Mercier fired a laser beam that beat Kameka, but clanked off the crossbar and out.
The power play came close, but couldn't find the net, and the Coyotes sprung the other way as their man was coming out of the box, delivering the dagger on the odd-man rush to make it a 4-2 game. An empty netter made it academic, a 5-2 final for the Coyotes, handing Creemore a 3-2 series lead.
Game 5 Boxscore
The dramatic turn of events means the Winterhawks will face elimination on Friday night, February 23rd, at The Plex when they host Game 6 at 8:30 p.m.
A win will be necessary to force a deciding Game 7.