The logo of the Twin City Thunder on their locker room at Auburn Savings Bank Arena. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal Buy this Photo

The Twin City Thunder’s National Collegiate Development Conference team found another way to win a game in Wesley Chapel, Florida on Friday.

After giving up a lead in the third period, Hunter Schmitz scored in overtime to give the Thunder a 6-5 victory over the Islanders Hockey Club. Schmitz finished the game with three points, as he also had two assists.

#HubCityTampa: After the @islandershc tied it 5-5 with almost no time left, the @TwinCityThunder rallied in OT to make sure they left the building with the “W,” the winner coming off the stick of Hunter Schmitz. Wild finish, great game. #instantclassic pic.twitter.com/2VUcyYQbbT

— USPHL (@USPHL) January 29, 2021

“I thought our guys did a good job staying calm and staying focused on the task at hand, and getting the two points,” acting NCDC head coach Alex Drulia said.

Islanders HC was down 4-1 entering the third period and used all 20 minutes to force overtime, as the team scored four times, including a buzzer-beater by defenseman Cole Crusberg-Roseen to tie the game at five to force OT.

#HubCityTampa: Wild finish to the middle #NCDC game of the day. First, witness @islandershc Cole Crusberg-Roseen (@UMassHockey recruit)’s game-tying goal with less than one second remaining in regulation. pic.twitter.com/r7TntLqW74

— USPHL (@USPHL) January 29, 2021

Drulia thought the buzzer sounded prior to the puck entering the net.

“From the bench view, it looked like the buzzer sounded before goal went in, but we don’t have luxury of the video review,” Drulia said. “Whatever the ref sees and he makes the call, there’s not much you can do to change it.”

Crusberg-Roseen, a University of Massachusetts recruit who had attended Maine Nordiques training camps the past two seasons, finished the game with two points, as he also had an assist. Former Nordiques tender signing and University of New Hampshire commit Cy LeClerc also had a goal and an assist.

The third period started with Charles Cocuzzo beating Thunder goalie Devon Bobak (27 saves) at the 2:45 mark of the frame. Just past the seven-minute mark, Johnny Ulicny scored his seventh goal of the season to cut the Thunder lead to 4-3.

Williams College bound Nick Rashkovsky put the Thunder up 5-3 with five-and-half minutes remaining in the game, with Schmitz picking up the assist.

With under two minutes remaining in the third period, LeClerc scored his seventh goal of the season to put Islanders HC back within one goal.

The Thunder (10-12-1, 21 points) had a big second period, as Valeri Rykov potted his sixth goal of the season 53 seconds into the frame, jamming the puck past Islanders goalie Jake Perrin (23 saves). University of New England commit Noah Furman and Grant Saiz set the goal up.

The USPHL announced Thursday that Rykov was named the NCDC forward of the week, as he had three goals and an assist in four games last week.

Gabe Malek added two goals in the period, including potting the Thunder’s third goal from the high-slot with Nathan Chickering notching his fifth assist of the season. Malek scored with under a minute remaining in the second period, with Eamon Doheny and Timur Alishlalov recording their first points as members of the Twin City Thunder.

“I think in the second period we had a good offensive zone time and it started with our forecheck,” Drulia said. “We kind of gotten away from that in the third period and obviously it resulted in having to go into overtime.”

Johan Rosenquist opened the scoring for the Islanders HC (13-16-4, 30 points), as he scored 1:41 into the game. The goal was assisted by LeClerc and Kyle Lightfoot.

On the next shift, the Thunder responded as Tyler Fox found the back of the net for the fifth time this season 13 seconds after Rosenquist’s goal. Schmitz and Rashkovsky had the helpers.

THUNDER ADD A FORWARD

The Twin City Thunder continue to tinker with the roster by adding 18-year-old forward Alishlalov.

On Tuesday, the Thunder added defenseman Doheny, a 2019 NCDC draft pick to the roster.

Alishlalov, of Moscow, Russia, was released by the Johnstown Tomahawks of the North American Hockey League on Wednesday, as he appeared in five games, recording no points. Last season, he spent the year at Avon Old Farms, a prep school in Avon, Connecticut, as he put up 14 goals and 18 assists in 27 games.

“Timur brings in a high skill set and he was on our power play today and he had a lot of good looks,” Drulia said. “He’s really calm with the puck and I think that helps us down on the second and third line. That will add more scoring down there and he made a good play on (Malek’s first goal), he cut across the middle, took a hit to make a play.”

He’s also appeared in one game at the Tier I level with the Youngstown Phantoms of the United States Hockey League in 2018-19.

Alishlalov is the second Moscow native on the roster, joining Rykov, and the third Russian to play for the Thunder this year as Sergei Anisimov of St. Petersburg played one game before joining the New England Wolves of the Eastern Hockey League.