PORT HARDY—A tenacious final ten minutes earned the Port Hardy Bulls a draw against the Port Hardy Warriors Saturday, fighting back from 3-1 down to tie it up in the final minute.
Bulls goalie Colin Hunko had a superb closing period between the sticks, time and again turning aside the Warriors’ attempts to find a winner as both teams launched all-out attacks.
The Bulls left it late to find the equalizer, Curtis Martyn firing home with just 40.6 seconds left to play.
The Bulls had opened the scoring with six minutes left in the first period, Yvan Noel’s backhander from the left finding the net.
The Warriors were quick to respond however, and piled on the pressure for the remainder of the period. They were rewarded with a goal a minute and a half later when defenseman Mitchell Walker found Shelby Cockell skating into the slot and Cockell rifled home.
Cockell turned provider with 1:28 on the clock, Brett Demoe on hand to give the Warriors the lead going into the break.
The Warriors kept their upper hand at the start of the second and looked to be cruising when Cockell found the net again to double his tally and give his side a buffer.
The Bulls refused to go down without a fight, however, and mounted a spell of pressure of their own.
They got their breakthrough with 10:56 to play. Brad Zealand found space to the left of the crease and reacted quickly to turn in a rebound and spark a frantic final ten minutes, the game going end-to-end as both teams went all-out to score.
Hunko’s fine series of stops kept the Bulls within sight and Martyn’s goal crowned a fine comeback in a game either side could have ran away with at times.
League play resumes Friday with the Warriors facing the Neucel Islanders in Port Alice at 8 p.m. and the Bulls hosting the Port McNeill Mustangs at 9:15 p.m.
