Malc
05-11-2011, 02:08 PM
By Jeff Bromley
The Winterhawks' Mac Carruth put on a goaltending show Tuesday night. But he probably would prefer an alternate ending.
Joe Antilla scored at 6:12 of overtime to give the Kootenay Ice a 3-2 win and a 2-1 lead in the WHL finals.
"I was just trying to get up into the play and maybe create something, maybe something would happen," Antilla said. "I headed straight for the puck and Max (Reinhart) put it on my stick and I just put it home."
Carruth stopped 38 of 41 shots and was named the game's second star.
"It was a great game," Portland head coach Mike Johnston said. "It was just one of those games where you get a bounce; you get a break in the transition. Both teams missed a couple (in overtime) but they buried that last puck."
After Drew Czerwonka tied the game in the third period, the Winterhawks had an opportunity when Ice defenseman James Martin caught Portland defenseman Troy Rutkowski with a devastating hit. Martin drew a charging major and a game misconduct and Hawks forward Ryan Johansen received a roughing minor in the ensuing scrum. The Hawks failed to score on the three-minute man-advantage.
"You don't score on every power play," Johnston said. "We had one power play and didn't score. We had two good chances on that power play."
After early scoring chances by both clubs, the Ice opened the scoring at the tail end of a power play at 17:53 in the first. As Riley Boychuk stepped out of the box, forward Kevin King took a pass off the wall at the blueline and streaked down the wing on Carruth. King wired his fifth of the playoffs with a terrific shot off the crossbar and behind Carruth for a 1-0 lead.
The Hawks tied it 61 seconds later when Ty Rattie pulled off a similar feat, ripping his eighth of the playoffs past Nathan Lieuwen.
"It's a little frustrating, a close game like that," said Rattie, who was in on both Portland goals with a goal and an assist. "But the game is competitive. We wanted to be the team that pulled it out in overtime, but that's hockey, it happens. We're looking forward to tomorrow."
The goaltenders took over after the first-period flurry. On a two-on-one in the second, Nino Niederreiter went down the left wing and dished a pass to Johansen, only to have Ice goaltender Lieuwen poke-check it away.
Carruth provided some heroics of his own late in the period when Ice rearguard Brayden McNabb found King at Carruth's backdoor. The 19-year-old made a spectacular sliding pad-save to keep it tied 1-1.
After a scoreless second period, the Hawks took the lead 3:54 into the third when Rattie found a wide open Sven Bartschi, who fired his 10th of the playoffs into an open net for a 2-1 lead.
The Ice evened the score at the 13:58 mark when Czerwonka won a foot race to a loose puck and tucked a backhand past Carruth.
After the hit by Martin on Rutkowski, the Hawks pressed for the go-ahead goal but Lieuwen shut the door, stopping Bartschi twice -- once on a breakaway and again in the dying seconds from point-blank range to push the game to overtime.
Notes: Tayler Jordan sat out his one-game suspension for the hit on Steele Boomer in Game 2 while Brad Ross served at least one game of his to-be-determined league suspension.
http://www.oregonlive.com/hawks/index.ssf/2011/05/kootenay_3_portland_2_ice_scor.html
The Winterhawks' Mac Carruth put on a goaltending show Tuesday night. But he probably would prefer an alternate ending.
Joe Antilla scored at 6:12 of overtime to give the Kootenay Ice a 3-2 win and a 2-1 lead in the WHL finals.
"I was just trying to get up into the play and maybe create something, maybe something would happen," Antilla said. "I headed straight for the puck and Max (Reinhart) put it on my stick and I just put it home."
Carruth stopped 38 of 41 shots and was named the game's second star.
"It was a great game," Portland head coach Mike Johnston said. "It was just one of those games where you get a bounce; you get a break in the transition. Both teams missed a couple (in overtime) but they buried that last puck."
After Drew Czerwonka tied the game in the third period, the Winterhawks had an opportunity when Ice defenseman James Martin caught Portland defenseman Troy Rutkowski with a devastating hit. Martin drew a charging major and a game misconduct and Hawks forward Ryan Johansen received a roughing minor in the ensuing scrum. The Hawks failed to score on the three-minute man-advantage.
"You don't score on every power play," Johnston said. "We had one power play and didn't score. We had two good chances on that power play."
After early scoring chances by both clubs, the Ice opened the scoring at the tail end of a power play at 17:53 in the first. As Riley Boychuk stepped out of the box, forward Kevin King took a pass off the wall at the blueline and streaked down the wing on Carruth. King wired his fifth of the playoffs with a terrific shot off the crossbar and behind Carruth for a 1-0 lead.
The Hawks tied it 61 seconds later when Ty Rattie pulled off a similar feat, ripping his eighth of the playoffs past Nathan Lieuwen.
"It's a little frustrating, a close game like that," said Rattie, who was in on both Portland goals with a goal and an assist. "But the game is competitive. We wanted to be the team that pulled it out in overtime, but that's hockey, it happens. We're looking forward to tomorrow."
The goaltenders took over after the first-period flurry. On a two-on-one in the second, Nino Niederreiter went down the left wing and dished a pass to Johansen, only to have Ice goaltender Lieuwen poke-check it away.
Carruth provided some heroics of his own late in the period when Ice rearguard Brayden McNabb found King at Carruth's backdoor. The 19-year-old made a spectacular sliding pad-save to keep it tied 1-1.
After a scoreless second period, the Hawks took the lead 3:54 into the third when Rattie found a wide open Sven Bartschi, who fired his 10th of the playoffs into an open net for a 2-1 lead.
The Ice evened the score at the 13:58 mark when Czerwonka won a foot race to a loose puck and tucked a backhand past Carruth.
After the hit by Martin on Rutkowski, the Hawks pressed for the go-ahead goal but Lieuwen shut the door, stopping Bartschi twice -- once on a breakaway and again in the dying seconds from point-blank range to push the game to overtime.
Notes: Tayler Jordan sat out his one-game suspension for the hit on Steele Boomer in Game 2 while Brad Ross served at least one game of his to-be-determined league suspension.
http://www.oregonlive.com/hawks/index.ssf/2011/05/kootenay_3_portland_2_ice_scor.html