Saturday Scores: Rebels, Jets take 2-0 series leads
Minnesota Wilderness forward Zach Mills scored his league-leading 6th playoff goal on Saturday in a 3-2 win on Saturday to even their series with Aberdeen.
East Division Finals, Game 2: New Jersey 2 @ Aston 3 (Aston leads series, 2-0) – The Aston Rebels took a 2-0 lead in their best of five series in the East Division Finals thanks to a 3-2 win in Game 2 on Saturday. The Rebels got off to a fast start, scoring two 1st period goals. The first came just over a minute into the game courtesy of Drew Blackmun. After the Titans tied the game at 1-1 thanks to a goal from Maxim Andreev, the Rebels regained the one goal lead thanks to a goal from defenseman Gvido Jansons. The Titans would again tie the game in the 2nd period thanks to Andreev’s second goal of the night. The game would remain tied until midway through the 3rd period as Dustin Manz scored his second goal of the playoffs. Aston goalie Mareks Mitens made 18 saves in the win, while Ryan Ferland made 23 saves in the loss for the Titans as the series now shifts to New Jersey. Boxscore
South Division Finals, Game 2: Corpus Christi 3 @ Lone Star 0 (series tied, 1-1) - The Corpus Christi IceRays rebounded from last night’s loss with a 3-0 blanking of the Lone Star Brahmas on Saturday night at the NYTEX Sports Centre in Game 2 of the South Division Finals to even the series 1-1 and force Game 4. The first period had a very different feel compared to the first night, and the IceRays came out firing and found two early tallies. IceRays defenseman Cody Fleckenstein buried a one-time shot in the high slot coming from forward Griffin Loughran at 3:02 to hop out to a 1-0 lead. The IceRays kept the pressure going, and at 13:38 of the frame IceRays forward Nathan Bryer snapped a shot from the left circle that snuck under the crossbar to double the lead, 2-0. At 8:21 of the 2nd period, David Baskerville found a loose puck in the left circle and somehow snuck a shot through traffic to triple the lead, 3-0. The Brahmas pulled netminder Max Prawdzik after that goal, giving way to Alec Calvaruso for his 2017 postseason debut. The Brahmas threw numbers to the net as often as they could in the final period, which included pulling Calvaruso for an extra skater before reaching midway through the frame. However, the IceRays held firm defensively to keep them off the scoreboard and force the first shutout against the Brahmas this season in a 3-0 win. IceRays netminder Tomas Vomacka earned his second shutout win of the playoffs with a 36-save effort. Prawdzik recorded the loss, stopping 16 of 19 shots in 28:21 minutes, and Calvaruso halted all 10 shots in relief. Boxscore
Central Division Finals, Game 2: Aberdeen 2 @ MN Wilderness 3 (series tied, 1-1) - One night after losing a heartbreaking double-overtime game, the Minnesota Wilderness evened their North American Hockey League quarterfinal series with Aberdeen at one game apiece with a 3-2 win Saturday night at Northwoods Arena in Cloquet. Jesse Farabee scored an unassisted power-play tally at the 7-minute mark of the third period to lift the Wilderness past the Wings. Minnesota held a 2-0 lead in the first intermission after Charlie Parker and Zach Mills recorded first-period goals, the first of which was Mills' sixth of the playoffs. The Wings were able to erase a 2-0 deficit with a 2nd period goal from Riley Murphy and a early 3rd period goal from Colin Raver. Trevor Micucci made 39 saves for the Wilderness, including 19 in the second period. Forbes Ploszaj made 20 saves for Aberdeen. Boxscore
Midwest Division Finals, Game 2: Fairbanks 0 @ Janesville 5 (Janesville leads series, 2-0) - After suffering its first North American Hockey League playoff loss to top-seeded Janesville in Game 1 of the Midwest Division finals Friday, Fairbanks was shut out by the Jets 5-0 on Saturday in Janesville, Wisconsin. With the loss, the defending Champion Ice Dogs, fell behind 0-2 in the best-of-five series, which will resume with Game 3 at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Big Dipper Ice Arena. During Game 2, it was all Jets as Kip Hoffmann gave Janesville a 1-0 lead 12:54 into the first period. Hoffman capped off Saturday’s win with a shorthanded empty-net goal 17:50 into the third period, though the Jets peppered the Ice Dogs’ net with shots throughout the night. Cole Paskus gave the team a 2-0 lead 18:20 into the opening period, while Cullen Munson and Keegan Miller each netted goals in the middle frame. Fairbanks starting goaltender Erik Gordon (15 saves) was pulled from the game after allowing Janesville’s fourth goal midway through the second period. His replacement, Josh Benson, stopped each of the 11 shots he faced in 27 minutes, 23 seconds of action. The Ice Dogs tested Jacob Barczweski with 23 shots on goal, but the Jets’ netminder was perfect in the shutout. Boxscore
