From the Stars Website:

February 8th, 2008
The Liftlock Stars defeated the Kingston Voyageurs tonight by a score of 3-2 in overtime. This win gives them 29 wins and 65 points. This is the most points this team has had in a season since before 1989 when they left the Metro Junior "B" league.

In the first period, the Stars got on the scoreboard first on a goal by Pier-Olivier Cotnoir from Ryan Herlihey at the 6:55 mark. Matt Gray put them ahead by 2-0 at the 8:07 mark when he converted a pass from Chris Currins and Pier-Olivier Cotnoir. The Voyageurs got one past starting goaltender Mathieu Cadieux at the 17:24 mark to make it 2-1 on a goal by Eric Laniault. The Voyageurs outshot the
Stars by a margin of 17-9 in the period.

In the second period, James Cameron tied it up for the Voyageurs when he scored at the 4:54 mark. Lots of end to end action and the Voyageurs outshot the Stars by 10-8.

In the third period, things got a bit chippy at times but still plenty of good action as the Stars outshot the Voyaguers by a margin of 3-0. \

In overtime the Stars had a couple of good chances to win and at the 1:39 mark of overtime, Matt Gray fed a pass back to Tyler Talsma who saw Pier-Olivier Cotnoir in the open and Pier-Olivier made no mistake about putting it into the back of the net for the win.

Your thoughts Wayjoy?

and the extra point tonight. Fans were treated to a playoff type game this evening. Both teams competed hard with some big time hits and some great intensity.

I was really happy with the Vees' effort tonight. They played a hard 60 minutes and battled back from a 2-0 deficit to tie it, at 2-2.

No small feat against a hard-working Matucci-coached Stars team that doesn't give you much. Once the Stars got ahead, they employed a 1-4 type of checking system that the Vees found difficult to break, particularly in the 3rd period.

The 2nd Stars' goal is an example of what can happen if you shoot the puck at the net from anywhere .It came from a sharp angle deep in the Vees' end with Hache cheating a little off the near post. It found it's way in on the short-side to give them a 2-0 lead in the 1st.

But the Vees bounced back, stayed with the program, and without any kind of panic.

The penalty to #23 Tyler Hill of the Vees was really marginal in the overtime. It turned out to be the decisive blow to be Vees as the Stars scored on the ensuing powerplay.

Marginal, because Hill, has a paltry total of just 27 minutes in PIMS this year in 45 games. For a defenceman, it is phenomenal. Especially if you've seen this guy play. He is as good as it gets at this level one on one and he knows how to use body positioning without drawing a lot of penalties.

But the truth is, that the Vees 6th ranked powerplay in production, had numerous opportunities, this night, to put the game away long before that.

The powerplay, which is generally good for some production, was silent this night. Some may well have been due to Cadieux's excellent goaltending and the Stars' penalty kill.

But you don't often get as many powerplay oppotunities as the Vees did as a visiting team.They didn't use them to their advantage.

Looks very much like a Stars'/Muskies 1st round best of five. Lookout for the Muskies. This will be a hard fought series.

One of the Stars' coaches, in his interview post game, with the local cablevue folks put it nicely.

He said that the Vees have probably the best three lines in the East for depth and consistency. They are hard to match up against.

That is a strength of this year's Vees' team. In fact, the 4 lines they can put together, are as good as you will see anywhere at this level. It makes them hard to beat when they are all playing.

The problem is, that unless they stay out of the box so you can roll 4 lines, that depth factor is not as much an advantage as it should be.

Stay tuned.

Wayjoy