For the third straight time in the best-of-five series, the road team won the game as Gamblers forward Ryan Furne scored 1:38 into the third overtime to keep his club alive in the quest for the Clark Cup. It was the first win of the series for Green Bay as Force now holds a 2-1 advantage in the Clark Cup Finals.
Fargo captain Chase Grant got the already energized capacity crowd on their feet when he scored a little more than three minutes into the first period. Again, Green Bay out-shot the Force in the first frame, 11-7, but the Force has scored first in each of the three games so far.
Anders Lee evened the game scoring his eighth of the playoffs at 1:38 of the second period. Gamblers captain Patrick McCadden then gave his club their first lead in the series when he netted his second of the postseason and Green Bay went into the second intermission with a 2-1 lead.
Matt Leitner tied the game at 2-2 when his pass attempt redirected and slipped past Gamblers goaltender Steve Summerhays. Four minutes later, Chase Grant netted his second of the night to re-gain the lead for Fargo when his shot from the side of the net bounced off Summerhays and trickled across the goal line. Fargo's captain now has three multi-goal games in the playoffs.
Fargo appeared to be on their way to celebrate their first ever Clark Cup title, but the Gamblers weren't finished. With their goaltender pulled in favor of the extra attacker, Anders Lee fired home his second goal of the game, with just 49 seconds remaining to tie the game at 3-3 and send it to overtime.
Force goaltender Ryan Massa continued his stellar play in the postseason turning away 17 shots through the first two overtimes, but it was to be Green Bay's night when Furne scored his sixth of the playoffs and send the series to Game Four which will be played on Saturday night at the Urban Plains Center. Summerhays made 29 saves to earn the victory for the Gamblers.
Force fans set a new attendance record at the Urban Plains Center as 5,191 people packed the building to witness a thrilling triple-overtime contest. Although 101:38 minutes of game action was played, it was not the longest game in playoff history. That was a four-overtime contest between the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders and Lincoln Stars on April 12th, 2002, which lasted 126:15.
Post Game Reaction
Green Bay Gamblers Head Coach Jon Cooper on his team's effort…
"That's why hockey is the greatest sport in the world because you just watched the passion that was put into the game by both teams and then one goal ends it. I am so proud of the effort our guys gave in a hostile environment."
Cooper on his team's penalty killing…
"We have to give a ton of credit to Summerhays and our penalty killers. Summerhays got a tough couple bounces against him in regulation, but I thought he was as cool as the other side of the pillow in the overtimes. For the penalty killers to do what they did was just phenomenal. You need those unsung heroes to come through for you at crunch time and they gave us the opportunity to be able to win it."
Gamblers goaltender Steve Summerhays on his team's mindset…
"All we wanted to do was come in here and win on Friday night to get us to Saturday. After two overtimes, we sat in the locker room and said this is the period that we are going to score a goal. The team that wants it the most is going to win the series. We won that game and now we get to play on Saturday."
Summerhays on the Gamblers battling back…
"We had two good games last weekend. We thought we did a lot of good things but we knew we needed to be better tonight. We knew their goalie was going to be great again - Massa has been unbelievable in this series. We went down by one, but we have done that every game this series and we knew that we were going to battle back. We killed off penalties all game and in overtime, then we finally get our chance on the power play and we score."
Gamblers forward Ryan Furne on scoring the game-winner in triple overtime…
"That was a pretty big goal because in the second overtime, I hit the post. In the overtimes, we were pretty jacked up and buzzing around. For me to score the goal is lucky for me, but it was a team effort tonight."
Furne on out-shooting the Force…
"We weren't getting too frustrated and we kept pouring it on them. Even the first two games of the series we out-shot them, but we just have to keep going to the net hard, earn the rebounds, and do whatever we can to score goals."
Gambler forward Anders Lee on the offensive production after scoring just one goal combined in the first two games of the series…
"Massa and the Force have really had our number the last couple of games. Tonight it was do or die time. Once we were able to get that first goal, it made things a lot easier and got us rolling."
Lee on what the team was saying when twice falling behind in the game…
"We are fine, especially when they tied it up and then took the lead. We didn't worry about it because all it takes is one shot and we will get right back into it. We had some poise at the end of the third and got that done. We had to battle through some penalties in the overtimes, but that is what you have to do if you want to win and we just pulled it out."
Lee on the team's 5-on-3 penalty kill in the second overtime…
"Unbelievable. All three of our guys were great and obviously Summerhays making some great saves out there. Your best penalty killer is your goalie and he was there for us."
Lee on the team's thoughts for Game Four…
"We will enjoy this one here for a few moments, get some food in us, and get hydrated, but for sure tomorrow is already on our minds and we will be ready to go."
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