GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN – The game one upsets in the second round continued on Thursday night as the Ice rolled the Gamblers. Green Bay came into the series playing well. A first round sweep over the Waterloo Black Hawks proved that the Anderson Cup winners were meaning business. Indiana had not fared very well against Green Bay all season going 2-5-0; but it’s a new season in the playoffs.
For the Indiana Ice, success may have come through continuous play. Ice forward Sebastian Geoffrion mentioned on the team website that: “Coming off of an intense five-game series, we still had loads of playoff energy. Those early goals in the first period helped us get a step on Green Bay.” The Ice used their momentum to jump on the Gamblers early, scoring twice in the first period to lead 2-0 at the first intermission. Zach Golembiewski scored first for the Ice and was followed up by Brad Richardson at the 10:54 mark.
While the second period yielded no scoring, each team was assessed four minors for a total of eight minutes. Penalty minutes were a big key to the game as Indiana received 21 minutes on nine infractions, and Green Bay received 23 minutes on ten infractions. With the onslaught of penalties assessed, a point of interest can be made of Mike Cichy’s lone power play goal in the third period.
The Ice would score three more times in the third to including Cichy’s power play point. Sebastian Geoffrion would get the ball rolling early in the third with his even strength goal assisted by Mike Cichy and Jason Bourgea at the 3:13 mark. Will MacDonald would add an empty net goal minutes later to put the Ice in a 5-0 lead. Green Bay would not go down quietly as Anthony Hayes would acquire the lone goal for the Gamblers at 18:19 to ruin Brett Bennett’s bid for a shutout. Bennett played very well throughout the night stopping 23 shots on goal.
With the win, the Ice take a one game lead over the Gamblers. Game two in the best-of-five series will be Saturday, April 25, 2009 at 7:05 PM in Green Bay.
You may contact the author at: john.strathman@prohockeynews.com
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