Day 68: Gerber Wrests Win from Funboys

Rovers netminder Martin Gerber makes a spectacular glove save, one of 39 on the night.

Saskatoon, SK (CP)

Needing a big effort after in a tough building, Martin Gerber returned from injury and stepped up to make 39 saves, allowing the Rovers to hang on until Kim Johnsson won the game on the first shift of OT, 4-3 over the host Funboys. Gerber, who took the pre-game skate and declared himself good to go, stood on his head, especially in the first and third periods, to take first-star honours in the game. "It was a big win for us, and a big game for me coming off an injury", Gerber said afterwards. "You always want to be in there, I was glad to help the team win".

The Funboys dominated the early going, outshooting the Rovers 19-9 in the first period. It was the Rovers, however, who emerged with a 2-0 lead on unassisted goals by Laaksonen, his first as a Rover, and Adam Hall. Pavol Demitra increased the lead to 3-0 early in the second, but then the Funboys got going with goals from Scott Thornton and Pavel Datsyuk late in the frame to enter the intermission down a goal.

The Funboys emerged from the break with the same jump they had in the first and tied the game early on a Mike Sillinger marker. Despite outshooting the Rovers 15-6 in the period, Gerber held the tie throughout regulation. A late-period interference penalty to Bill Guerin, which infuriated the Funboys bench, carried over into overtime. "That penalty was **********", an irate Guerin blasted after the game. "I mean I ******* came across the ******* blueline, crossed in front of the ******* Dman and the ******** ******* **** ref *************************** [remainder of quote too foul to print]

Taking the man-advantage into the extra session, the top PP unit went straight to work. Off the draw won by Demitra, Cory Stillman grabbed the puck and skated down the left side and fired a hard wrist-shot on goal. It was kicked out by Mike Leighton into the high slot, where Kim Johnsson snuck in and buried the long rebound to give the Rovers the victory.

The Funboys outshot the Rovers 42-25 on the night, dominated in puck-possession and completed far more passes than did their opponents, but still came up short. Outside of Gerber's outstanding play, the Rovers did win 43 of 68 faceoffs, which probably kept the score from getting out of hand. "If we didn't win as many draws as we did, they'd have had the puck all night", Stringer said of the effort. "We really owe Marty a big one after the way he bailed us out tonight".

The win moved the Rovers into sole possession of first place in the Champions Conference by virtue of the Mounties tying the 500s 2-2. The team now has two days off before hosting the Spectres and then travelling to Kitchener to square off with the Mounties next week.