ROANOKE, Va. – The Rail Yard Dawgs (12-8-3) nearly came up with a great comeback on Saturday night, but came up short against the Birmingham Bulls (5-11-5) in a 6-5 overtime loss on Teddy Bear Toss Night at Berglund Center. Joe Widmar had four points, Travis Broughman had three points, Andrew Harley’s goal sent the Teddy Bears flying, Ricky Boysen added a goal, and Bryce Martin’s tying goal late in the third period forced overtime. Austyn Roudebush stopped 22-of-25 shots faced in relief in the net for the Dawgs.
Birmingham got off to a hot start in the first period, with two goals before the first media timeout. Matt Wood finished off a centering feed in the low slot at 1:27, and Drake Glover slotted the puck home on a 2-on-1 rush at 5:09 to give the Bulls a 2-0 lead. Two quick Birmingham penalties gave Roanoke a 5-on-3 power play chance, and the hosts quickly took advantage. Harley’s one-time blast from the bottom of the right-wing circle sent the Teddy Bears flying, making it a 2-1 game at 7:20. A rebound tally from the left-wing circle by Broughman on the remaining 5-on-4 power play time at 8:22 tied the game at 2-2. Tensions began to rise with several roughing penalties and a fight between Roanoke’s Gehrig Lindberg and Birmingham’s Damon Zimmer. The Bulls would regain the lead on a power play goal by Shawn Kennedy at 13:15, which would prompt the Dawgs to swap Brody Claeys and go to Roudebush in net the rest of the way. Roanoke trailed 3-2 heading to the first intermission.
The bad blood continued to spill into the second period, with both teams receiving three more power play chances. After a save by Birmingham, Chris Mott slipped the puck from the trapezoid to the low slot to Boysen, as Boysen roofed the puck into the net to make it a 3-3 game for the Dawgs at 8:11. That lasted all of nine seconds, as a shot from the right point in the Roanoke zone by Connor Scahill found its way to the back of the net to make it 4-3 at 8:20. Another power play finish on an incredible move by Glover made it a 5-3 game at 11:20, as the game quickly turned into a run-and-gun shootout. The Dawgs trailed by two heading to the final frame…