SOUTHAVEN, Niss – There is an adage in sports, “it is what it is”. After this game the two teams can definitely say “we are what we are”. This game played out exactly as expected, with two premier defensive clubs going at each other. A glance at the lineups showed the RiverKings had more pop than Oklahoma City does and that played out into a 39-23 shot advantage. The question going into the series was which of the club’s goaltenders would rise to playoff expectations as neither the Blazers’ Doug Groenestege nor Mississippi’s Kevin Beech had taken a club on a long playoff run. The game showed both of them could play well, however Groenestege was the better of the two at least in the first game. Clearly if the Blazers are to move on they will need their goaltender to play well. The fact the road team won should not be a surprise either now that it has happened eight times in the ten contests the clubs have played this year. The game was in question right up until Ted Vandermeer scored his ninth game-winner of the year and his seventh goal in his last eight games. Sensing a chance to steal the opening game in enemy territory the Blazers pressured the Mississippi end and reaped the rewards when Vandermeer back-handed a rebound that Beech failed to collect into the net at the 4:25 mark of extra play. After two periods Mississippi appeared to have done enough to choke the Blazers as they limited their opponent to 12 shots and led 1-0 on a Louis Dumont score. Dumont converted a play from Jeff Nelson while Oklahoma City scrambled with both Justin Sawyer (roughing) and Brian Passmore (unsportsmanlike conduct) in the penalty box creating a five-on-three for the RiverKings. However, Dumont’s tally would not hold and it was erased when DJ Jelitto converted Chad Hinz’s rush into the Mississippi zone with 11:53 expired in the third period. Although he was not credited with an assist (there also seems to be an assist missing on the game-winning goal) it appeared, an opinion seconded by no less than Oklahoma City coach Doug Sauter, Bill Vandermeer keyed the play by getting the puck up to Hinz to set up the rush. The two teams will not have much time to digest the result of this game as they face off tonight for game two in Mississippi. Contact the author at tom.schettino@prohockeynews.com.
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