ST. JOHN’S, Newfoundland and Labrador – Alex Burmistrov’s goal 1:03 into overtime ended a wild night at Mile One Centre on Tuesday, as the St. John’s IceCaps scratched and clawed their way to an 8-7 win over the Portland Pirates.
Eleven different players scored in the game, with 16 players registering at least one assist. The IceCaps trailed by two goals on three different occasions and never actually held a lead until Burmistrov’s overtime winner.
“It wasn’t a pretty one. It’s not the kind of hockey we play, but for sure we’ll take the win,” IceCaps winger Jason King said. “We were down by two goals a few times, but we stayed with it and stayed positive. We got important goals at key times.”
The IceCaps were outplayed for long stretches of Tuesday’s game, but found their legs in the third period when they sent four pucks into the Pirates’ net, including three in the first two and a half minutes of the frame. IceCaps forward Eric O’Dell credited the team’s veterans for leading the way to a third-period comeback.
“It was pretty crazy. We had a rough first and second period, but the goals came in the third,” O’Dell said. “During the second intermission our veterans were talking a lot, keeping us motivated … They said we had to keep working hard and that we couldn’t take the first couple of shifts off or we wouldn’t win.”
IceCaps head coach Keith McCambridge could not hide his displeasure with the team’s defensive woes on Tuesday, but was happy his club was able to collect two points with the win. He said the fact the IceCaps came from behind throughout the game speaks to the team’s character and drive.
“I’m not happy. Look at the score of the game, that’s not how we play. That’s too wide open. When you look at structure in a game, it wasn’t there tonight. We have to make sure we’re taking care of the defensive side of the game and we’re supporting pucks coming up the ice,” McCambridge said. “You can take a positive out of the way we came back. The characteristics and traits of the players in the room … they have the push to dig in and get two points out of a game in which they could have sat back and called it a night. I know we have good character guys and a good leadership group. That showed tonight.”
O’Dell and Spencer Machacek each had a pair of goals for St. John’s on Tuesday, with King, Burmistrov, Jason Gregoire and Ben Maxwell each netting one goal in the win. Maxwell, Derek Meech, Derek Whitmore and Ivan Telegin each picked up two assists for the IceCaps.
Rob Klinkhammer paced the Pirates attack, scoring three goals and adding a pair of assists. Chris Brown, Evan Brophey, Andy Miele and Alexandre Bolduc also scored for Portland in Tuesday’s contest.
Chad Johnson was tagged with the loss in net for Portland, having given up eight goals on 30 shots. Mark Dekanich was the IceCaps starting goalie, but was replaced by Eddie Pasquale early in the third period after giving up six goals. Pasquale was solid the rest of the way, making 17 saves to earn the win.
“The sixth goal was the final one for me. I thought some of those goals were not his fault. But when you get to that point, I didn’t like that last goal before he was pulled,” McCambridge said of his decision to replace Dekanich with Pasquale.
Notes: The game’s three stars were Klinkhammer, Machacek and Burmistrov respectively … Attendance for the game was 6,287, a capacity crowd at Mile One Centre in St. John’s … John Slaney, a St. John’s native, was behind the Pirates bench as an assistant coach … The Pirates and IceCaps meet again tonight at 7:30 p.m. local time.
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