Cody Smith and Ice Hawks force game 7 (Series Tied 3-3)

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Well ladies and gentleman its finally here, game 7. This comes after Cody Smith sent the Ice Hawks into a frenzy when he scored at 6:23 of the first overtime for a 4-3 win. Game seven will now go tonight at the Minoru Arena, where one way or another this series will end.


The Ice Hawks jumped out to a 2-1 lead after the first period with goals from Fidgett and Harding who have played great against the Sockeyes all year. Hamaguchi had the lone Sockeyes goal which came on the power play. 


The second period turned in the Sockeyes favour, Rudi Thorsteinson tied the game on a nice goal set up by Hamaguchi. They weren't done there though, as captain Patrick Hunter came in on a break away after affiliate Dean Allison sprung him and Hunter wired a shot past Enegren. The score after the second period was Sockeyes 3 and Delta 2. 


This would be the second time Richmond held a lead in the third period with a chance to end the series. Game 5 saw Delta tie it in the final five minutes. This time Kye Benjaminsen deflected a shot underneath Oakley for the tie game. What was key from this period was that after Patrick Hunter was slashed by Ryan Cuthbert and the linesman gave him a five-minute major penalty as the referee didn't see the slash. Richmond could not capitalize on the entire time, in fact the Ice Hawks had most of the play down in the Sockeyes zone.


Like usual, this being the fourth overtime game, the score was deadlocked 3-3 and it went to extra time. Jeremy Hamaguchi had a chance to be the hero as he was fed a pass with the net open but couldn't corral the puck.


With just under four minutes left in overtime Liam Harding found Cody Smith as the trailer, and sent him a pass. Smith waited for a few players to screen Oakley and then he fired it in. Ice Hawks jumped over the boards as they would for the first time this series have a chance to end the series themselves in Richmond. 


Game seven goes tonight at 8:15 puck drop. Both teams have the chance to close out the series, Richmond has failed to do that on their last two opportunities, can they do it tonight?


You can also watch the game online at SockeyesTV www.richmondsockeyes.com