The Jets opened the first leg of their Ayrshire Cup tie against Kilmarnock Storm at Limekiln Road on Saturday night. Both teams were missing a few key players, including Ayr's new Great Britain squad member Ian Devlin. Nevertheless, this did not stop the end-to-end action from the opening face-off that would set the mood for the rest of the game.
Ayr opened the scoring against the Scottish National League champions at 4:53 when the third line converted on a pass from Jim McLauchlan to forward Ryan Rodger with the shot. The home side held onto the single goal lead for almost five minutes before Kilmarnock squared it up. Both teams battled for the rest of the period with some fast paced ice hockey but the score would remain unchanged going into the intermission.
The Jets got another break not long into the second period when McLauchlan & Rodger teamed up for their second conversion of the night just after two minutes. However, as in the first period, the lead was short lived as the Storm slotted an equaliser by goalie Bernie McCrone at 25:44.
It wasn't long though until Ayr took grasp of the game again when Robert Szalapski & veteran John Kidd put together a play setting up Gary Morris just over thirty seconds later at 26.16. With the score at 3-2, Jets rallied and converted yet again at 33.43 when rookie defencemen, Stephen Bonnar shot one home to add another to the Jets tally.
Often regarded as one of the toughest leads to defend in ice hockey, the two goal advantage was short lived as the visitors clawed one back a minute and a half later to finish the scoring for the second period at 4-3 to Ayr.
Both line-ups came out of the dressing rooms to start the final period with determination. The Jets & Storm racked up penalty minutes, with Ayr players being called for roughing & tripping and Storm players receiving elbowing and interference calls. This heightened physical play set the precedence for who wanted the win more as Ayr defended their narrow lead. There was no scoring until almost the last minute of play when Kilmarnock equalized for the last time with a two-man advantage power-play goal.
Each side scrapped for a game winning goal in the remaining 62 seconds to no avail as the game finished 4-4 setting the stage for the return leg in Kilmarnock on Thursday night. The next game at the Galleon Centre will finally see a winner of this year's inaugural Ayrshire Cup. Face-off: 9.15pm.
MOM: Ryan Rodger
