LAREDO, Texas – Call it a crucial victory if you will – a loss would have meant the need to win consecutive elimination games to advance to the finals. Few teams have done that in the history of the Central Hockey League. The Laredo Bucks found it within themselves to get that crucial victory with a 5-1 clubbing of the Allen Americans.
Home ice proved to be a decided advantage in this critical game and the Laredo Bucks wasted little time getting on the scoreboard. Todd Griffith and Evan Schwabe caught the Americans during a line change and broke in on a two-on-one. Griffith slid a pass across the slot under an Allen defenseman’s stick to a wide open Schwabe who put the shot top shelf, over Chris Whitley’s glove side just 1:16 into the opening frame.
Play was end to end for the next several minutes before the Americans went on the power play due to a slashing call on Brent Cullaton. Allen’s special teams were ineffective however, passing around the side boards or dumping it in and getting little pressure on the Bucks’ net.
A few minutes later, Laredo got the power play opportunity and didn’t let it go to waste. Darryl Smith found the back of the net for Laredo at 13:50 to put Laredo up 2-0 and the Bucks were just getting started. The Americans showed some life late in the period, getting several shots on Pier-Olivier Pelletier and shutting out the Bucks offensively, but the score remained unchanged.
Allen came out flying from the outset of the second period, taking three shots on net in the opening minute but the excellent goaltending of Pelletier continued to frustrate the Americans. Defenseman Jordie Benn was called for interference at 2:03 which d proved very costly for the Americans. Just one minute into the power play, Brent Cullaton fired a shot past Whitley to increase the Laredo lead to three.
In order to shake things up, Allen Head Coach Dwight Mullins made a goaltending change after the third goal. David McKee stepped between the pipes in a tough situation and his play ignited a flame under Allen, making three fantastic saves in a row. The Americans picked up the pace and Tobias Whelan almost put the Americans on the board but was stoned by Pelletier on both his initial shot and attempts on his own rebound.
The pressure continued for Allen as shot after shot found its way towards the net, but Pelletier confounded the Americans attempts and they couldn’t seem to buy a goal. His efforts were rewarded by Mike Looby with just over four minutes remaining when he wristed a shot over the left shoulder of McKee. The Americans were double teaming Brent Cullaton on the sideboards when he spied a wide open Looby in the slot; Cullaton fed Looby who notched Laredo’s fourth goal of the contest.
As the minutes wound down in the middle frame, Adam Rivet was called for slashing, giving the Americans another power play opportunity. This time, man-advantage wouldn’t prove as impotent as previous attempts when Bruce Graham put the puck past Pelletier at the 16:59 mark. With renewed confidence, the Americans continued the attack, outshooting the Bucks 20-12 in the period, but after 40 minutes the score remained 4-1.
The third period would be a back and forth affair as both teams traded shots, with Allen doubling Laredo’s efforts 12-6. But the final nail in the coffin would come for Laredo at 10:55; Brent Cullaton got his second goal of the game with a relatively soft shot on net that snuck past McKee. The Americans were never able to recover from that point forward, although they continued to attack the net until the final buzzer.
The teams will make the long trek back to Allen as the Americans, now facing elimination, play host to the Bucks on Tuesday for Game Six of the series.
Contact the author at maurice.fitzgerald@prohockeynews.com
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