PENSACOLA, FLA. – In sports, there are times when a game becomes something more than what the scoreboard says. Saturday night at the Pensacola Civic Center was one of those times.
In what proved to be an epic struggle between two individuals, Steve Christie out dueled Kyle Rank as the Pensacola Ice Flyers defeated the Knoxville Ice Bears 1-0 to sweep the teams’ best-of-three playoff series. The win sends the Ice Flyers to the SPHL President’s Cup championship series against the Columbus Cottonmouths starting Thursday. It will be the Ice Flyers’ first appearance in the finals since joining the league.
Christie, who returned to Pensacola from a call-up to the Tulsa Oilers of the CHL just before the playoffs began, had become maybe the single biggest story of the post-season in the SPHL. In three games prior to Saturday, he had allowed just two goals. On the other hand, Rank had at times struggled in his four previous games but when the Ice Bears needed him, he had stepped up.
Knowing that its playoff lives were on the line, the Knoxville team needed to figure out a way to put the puck behind Christie. When the netminder denied shots by Mark VanVliet and Emery Olauson early on, the Ice Bears knew they would have their work cut out for them. Rank was just as tough, shutting down three Pensacola shots in a thirty second span to keep the game scoreless.
With a little over twelve minutes left in the first period, Pensacola got the only goal that Christie would need. Ryan Salvis got the puck back to defenseman Paul Holder at the point. Instead of coming in hard, Holder’s shot was end over end and fluttering like a knuckleball. With several players in front screening his vision, Rank never picked up the direction of the puck and it got past him into the net.
From that point on, the game was in the hands of the goalies. Christie and Rank traded saves for the rest of the period, giving the 3,442 in attendance a taste of what the rest of the game would be like. Christie robbed Knoxville’s Jeremy Klaver with a quick glove save that was followed by Rank coming up big on a shot by Ice Flyer Chris Wilson.
Down by one, the Ice Bears got more and more frustrated as the game went along. In the second period, Christie continued to commit highway robbery. Whether it was a shot from the point or close in rebounds, Christie had things well under control. Giving Pensacola five power play opportunities in the period didn’t help Knoxville’s cause any but Rank kept his team in the game with 14 saves.
The Ice Bears started the third period with a power play but it was Pensacola that had the only two shots on net during the two minutes as Donnie Harris and Ryan Hohl tested Rank. The Ice Flyers defense clamped down, limiting Knoxville’s chances and allowing Christie to see every drive. In the final minute, the Ice Bears pressed hard for the equalizer but Christie had the answer, keeping the puck out of the net and allowing the Ice Flyers to move on.
Game Notes: With his second shutout of the post-season, Christie’s goals against average dropped to 0.50. He also is carrying a .983 save percentage after stopping all 29 shots he faced…Rank was outstanding as well, making 37 saves in taking the loss…The two teams combined to go 0-13 on the power play in the game…
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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