Saturday Highlights: Attack claw back in Erie, Steelheads win sixth straight
OWEN SOUND 4 – ERIE 3 – OT – Series tied 1-1
Good teams find a way.
The Owen Sound Attack did just that on Saturday in Erie, rebounding from a 6-1 Friday night thrashing at the hands of the Otters as Los Angeles Kings prospect Matt Schmalz (2) scored 4:22 into overtime in a 4-3 win.
The Attack overcame a 3-1 deficit as Kevin Hancock’s (7) shorthanded goal with 4:54 left in the second frame turned the tide, sparking a comeback effort that included Maksim Sushko’s (2) game-tying tally 2:03 into the third.
Schmalz’ game winner came unassisted as he muscled his way to the net before beating Erie’s Joseph Murdaca with a shot past the short side.
“It was a good play with their ‘D’ pinching up our forward had a good touch and made a good chip to get me the puck,” said Schmalz of the lead-up to overtime goal. “I saw their guy diving so I knew I had to protect the puck. I just shot it and it luckily went in for me.”
After being pulled in Game 1, Montreal Canadiens prospect Michael McNiven had a lot to do with his club’s success, turning away 33 shots with many of those saves coming on high quality chances.
Despite falling behind 3-1, the Attack were a different team on Saturday as head coach Ryan McGill testified post-game.
What changed?
“The sun came up this morning,” said McGill. “We were deer in the headlights (in Game 1) only because we had guys that had some anxiety levels. We hadn’t had many guys in this situation and now they’re a little bit more comfortable after talking this morning.
“I think our guys were resilient in the third period,” he continued. “We were down two goals and I’ve said it before, our guys don’t care what the score is, they just keep playing.”
Alex DeBrincat (8) opened the scoring for the Otters, taking a kick-pass from linemate Dylan Strome to beat McNiven inside the post with 6:14 left in the first period.
Owen Sound’s Nick Suzuki (8) would tie things up off the rush with 3:50 left in the opening frame, beating Erie’s Joseph Murdaca with a hard wrister as Jonah Gadjovich and McNiven collected assists.
The Otters got a key goal late in the first as Strome (9) gave them a 2-1 lead headed to the intermission. What looked like a fantastic save by McNiven quickly developed into a goal as the initial shot trickled over the goal line to bring the 5,078 at Erie Insurance Arena to their feet.
Warren Foegele (6) put Erie up by two 7:17 into the second as he buried his own rebound following a give-and-go with defenceman T.J. Fergus.
Hancock’s shorthanded marker came later in the second, a bizarre goal that saw the Owen Sound forward drive the net before his shot went airborne, bouncing off the helmet of Otters defenceman Owen Hendrick before sneaking across the goal line.
McNiven would flash the leather on DeBrincat late in the frame on a point-blank chance in the slot to keep Owen Sound within a goal headed into the third period.
Sushko’s game-tying goal came on a heads-up pass from Hancock who sprung the Belarussian down the left wing before he ripped a shot over the blocker shoulder of Murdaca 2:03 into the new period.
Schmalz completed the comeback 4:22 into overtime as Owen Sound heads home with a series split.
“We knew Owen Sound was going to be a lot better than they were the other night,” said Otters head coach Kris Knoblauch after the loss. “They were the best team in the second half and we knew it was going to get harder for us.”
Strome weighed in on the outcome, admitting that this playoff run has been intense for the Otters.
“It’s been a crazy playoffs for us,” he said. “Our three years here we haven’t had this crazy of a ride and we’re only in the second game of round three. It’s been a rollercoaster since the start of the London series and we haven’t won back-to-back games. We’re just trying to find our rhythm and hopefully we can get the next one in Owen Sound.”
The Otters went 0-for-4 on the power play to Owen Sound’s 0-for-2. The Attack outshot Erie 37-36 though the Otters held a 6-2 edge in overtime.
Game 3 of the Western Conference Final goes Monday night in Owen Sound.
POST-GAME COMMENTS:
MISSISSAUGA 3 – PETERBOROUGH 0 – MISS leads series 2-0
The Mississauga Steelheads continued their stellar play on the road, improving to 8-0 away from the Hershey Centre in the postseason with their sixth straight win.
Matthew Mancina made 24 saves for his first shutout of the year, doing so against his former club as the Steelheads blanked the Peterborough Petes 3-0 to take a 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference Final.
“We didn’t give up too many scoring chances tonight, so the guys made my job easy,” Mancina said post-game. “It doesn’t really matter what team it comes against for me. We’re playing for a trophy here and all of these wins are meaningful regardless of our opponent.”
Mississauga outshot Peterborough 52-24, controlling the play particularly in the latter half of the game as top forwards Spencer Watson, Michael McLeod, Owen Tippett, Ryan McLeod and Nathan Bastian saw plenty of ice.
“I thought both teams brought more physicality tonight,” said Steelheads coach James Richmond. “You could see what they were trying to do. They were trying to play more physical and slow us down. They’ve got some quick guys too though and we really have to focus on taking their time and space away.”
After a scoreless first, the Steelheads got the offence started 6:18 into the second as Los Angeles Kings prospect Jacob Moverare (1) sent a seeing-eye wrister through traffic that made its way past a screened Dylan Wells.
Mississauga increased the lead to 2-0 just over five minutes later when Owen Tippett (6) provided some insurance in front of a hometown crowd. The Peterborough native scooped up a cross-crease feed from Trent Fox to beat a sprawling Wells with 8:15 left in the period.
Wells was very good in the loss for Peterborough, keeping his club in the game until the final buzzer as he turned away 49 shots on the night.
“Dylan has been our backbone all year for us and it’s no different here in the playoffs,” said Peterborough head coach Jody Hull.
“Tonight I think we got away from doing the things that have made us successful because we fell behind,” he added. “When you’re behind you try things that you’re not accustomed to and guys get on their own page and I think that happened.”
Spencer Watson (13) found the empty net late in the third to secure the 3-0 final score as the Steelheads return home for Game 3 on Monday with a 2-0 series lead.
“I think it’s a big opportunity to show our character as a team,” said Petes captain Brandon Prophet. “It’s never the plan to go down 2-0 but the character that we have in the room, the leadership, we know what we have to do as a team and we’re going to have to come out hard on Monday.”
POST-GAME COMMENTS:
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