Beeman’s OT winner lifts Surge

KNOXVILLE , TN  – In every series there is a defining game; in every game, a defining moment. For the Mississippi Surge, game three of the SPHL playoffs was that game. For the Knoxville Ice Bears, it was a reckless double minor penalty in the second period that set the tone for the rest of the game.
Jason Beeman scored a five-on-three power play goal 5:57 into the first overtime to lift the Surge to a 3-2 victory over the Ice Bears in game three of their semifinal series at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum. Mississippi now leads the best-of-five series two games to one and can earn its second straight trip to the finals with a win in game four Saturday night in Knoxville.
The game-winning sequence began at the 4:35 mark of the extra period when Knoxville’s Martin Kubaliak was called for interference. During the ensuing man

advantage, Eric Slais was called for delay of game when he knocked the net off its magnets to save what appeared to be the game-winning goal. Seconds later and up two men, Jeff Winchester and Adam Bartholomy combined to set up Beeman who beat Knoxville goalie Bryan Hince to end the contest.
Mississippi ‘s special teams have dominated the series and it proved to be their saving grace as all three goals were scored on power plays. In all, the Surge went 3-for-7 in the game with the man advantage and are now 9-for-23 in three games for an astonishing 39.13 success percentage.
From the outset, Knoxville looked ready to avenge their 8-1 loss in game two last Saturday in Biloxi. A disciplined Ice Bears team, who put goalie Bill Zaniboni to the test with several close calls including a clinker from Tyler Fletcher and another off the post from Rob Sich, dominated the first period. Down the other end, Hince was on his game much like he was in game one, denying everything the Surge threw at him.
With the game scoreless into the final minute of the opening period, Jason Weeks finally got one past Zaniboni to send Knoxville into the intermission with a 1-0 lead. Brett Valliquette, who had a run-in with Zaniboni in game two, got the puck behind the net minder and fed a pass to Weeks who finished off the play.
The second period brought the return of the powerful Mississippi special teams, which was first in the league in power plays in the regular season. Knoxville‘s Frank Furdero was called for hooking, giving Mississippi its first man advantage. It took just eight seconds for Nick Klaren to find an opening and zip one past Hince to tie the game at 1-1.
Just two minutes later, Knoxville‘s Dan Mercer received a double minor penalty for butt-ending, forcing the Ice Bears to deal with the deadly line of Michael Richard, Matt Zultek and Beeman with back end help from Winchester and Klaren. This time, it was Richard who got one past Hince when he slapped home the rebound of a Klaren shot that Hince stopped with his chest. Richard‘s tally came at the 6:23 mark and left much of the home crowd in stunned disbelief.
Tensions rose as a shift in energy could be felt on the ice and in the building. Knoxville enforcer David Segal tried to get something going with Beeman, resulting in two minute roughing penalties for both players. It wasn’t enough to give either team the edge as they headed into the second intermission with Surge leading 2-1. Knoxville managed only 5 shots on goal in the second 20 minutes of play, versus Mississippi‘s 13.
Knoxville had spent most of the last week playing up the importance of having home ice advantage. They had only one more period to prove it but Mississippi was not going down quietly. The Surge logged eleven of the first 13 shots in the stanza, forcing Hince to stand on his head to keep the Ice Bears within reach. Finally with 5:55 left in regulation, captain Mike Bulawka gave the fans and his teammates something to cheer for. Taking a feed from Weeks and Valliquette, Bulawka snuck one past Zaniboni to tie the game and set up a frantic final six minutes. Mississippi out-shot the Ice Bears four to three down the stretch but neither goalie yielded, sending the game to an extra period.
The teams went up and down the ice at the start of the overtime, trying to force the other into a fatal error. Neither team made a mistake until Kubaliak took the interference penalty that turned into the Ice Bears’ undoing.
Game Notes: Knoxville’s power play went 0-for-5 in the game and is now 3-for-16 in the series…Lost in the hoopla of the playoffs was a $26,000 donation made by the Surge last Saturday to the Favre 4 Life and the Memorial Hospital Foundation. The donation was the culmination of the team’s “Pink In the Rink” event which included a jersey auction at the Hard Rock Casino Biloxi. The monies raised helped start the Breast Imaging Special Needs Patient fund at Gulfport Memorial Hospital. Former NHL quarterback Brett Favre and his wife Deanna were on hand to accept the check…Attendance for game three was announced as 2,571.
Kristina Shands is a media consultant with the Knoxville Ice Bears and contributing writer for the blog, Chicks Who Give a Puck.
Contact the author at kristina.shands@prohockeynews.com