GLANBROOK (Dec. 11) -- Dan Rocco's goal 27 seconds into the third period turned frustration into elation as the Glanbrook Rangers overcame two periods of disappointment to vanquish the Dundas Blues 4-1.

It was an exasperating first two frames for the Rangers, who utterly dominated the Blues, outshooting them by a 37-17 margin, controlled the puck and kept the visitors hemmed in and under fire in their own end for the better part of the 40 minutes, but  still found themselves on the bad side of a 1-0 score as a momentary slip-up allowed the Blues to break away on an odd-man rush which resulted in a goal for Ry Beattie.

That was hard enough to swallow, but the Rangers also had one goal disallowed (on a hand-pass call and another denied when a shot  by Glanbrook defenceman Erik Nelson rebounded in and out of the net so quickly that the referee missed it.  

And the Rangers' predicament became even more desperate when Dundas's Eric Bridgwater was awarded a penalty shot at 19:28 of the middle period. But Glanbrook goaltender Mitch Robinson was equal to the challenge,  denying the attempt and keeping the Rangers within striking distance. 

"I've faced five or six penalty shots," said Robinson.  "On this one, there was some frustration because I thought the call was weak as the shooter (on the play leading up to the call) still got off a strong shot.  But I was confident that I could make the save and keep the game tied.  It was important because we needed some energy.  

"The shooter (Bridgwater) came down relatively slowly with the puck in front of him, so I knew he was going to try some kind of move. He tried to shuffle the puck five-hole, and I just closed my legs and held onto it.  After the save, I had to smile and nod at the bench because they were all screaming  "FIVE HOLE!!" before the guy shot.  I was just thanking them for the heads up."  

And when Cooper Hood finally broke through for Glanbrook's first goal just 30 seconds later (and a scant two seconds before the period expired), it seemed that the Rangers'efforts were finally going to be rewarded. 

"It's definitely frustrating to have goals disallowed," said Hood, whose pivotal goal was his fifth of the season.  "We felt that the luck was going against us, but the way we were playing we all knew that things would eventually go our way.  Goals in the last seconds (of a period) are hard to come by ... I think this one gave us the spark we needed." 

 And to prove that point, Rocco struck in the opening moments of the third period to deflate whatever resistance the Blues had left.  Noah Bollert subsequently scored his 28th goal of the season at 6:48 and Noah Matteson added his 20th into an empty net at 17:35 to complete the turnaround and give the Rangers their 20th victory of the campaign. 

Robinson picked up his eighth win of the year on a sturdy 29-save effort, while the Rangers recorded their fifth consecutive victory and the 17th in their last 20 games. 

NOTES:  Defenceman Darcy Redwood contributed a pair of assists in his debut with the Rangers ...  Glanbrook had a second goal disallowed in the third period ... The Rangers were skating without four regulars:  defenceman Brennan Ireland and forwards Michael Dittrich,  Matt Hogan and Sandy Ciccarelli ... The Rangers went 2-for-11 on the power play in the quarrelsome contest which saw the Blues assessed for 60 penalty minutes while the more mannerly Rangers received 20 minutes.  Glanbrook survived all four of their penalty-killing stints. 

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