ODESSA, Texas – Facing another do-or-die situation, the Odessa Jackalopes once again frustrated the Allen Americans attempts to reach the President’s Cup Final with a dramatic overtime win 4-3. Now the teams will face off in a deciding seventh game, which will be the second for both teams. Each had to come from behind in their last series to force and then win a seventh game to advance to these Conference Finals.
The first period went back and forth with each team concentrating on offensive chances and surprisingly, little hitting. There were some good scoring attempts both ways but the best of the period went to Allen. Liam Huculak’s centering pass to Christian Gaudet from the left wing boards resulted in a one timer where Jackalopes goaltender Joel Martin stoned him with the glove hand.
In comparison to other games in the series, this was probably the slowest paced opening as neither team was looking for big hits and the tempo, while end to end wasn’t as high speed as in the previous games. The pace showed on the board, at the end of one, the game remained scoreless.
The game picked up in tempo and playing intensity in the second period. Allen started a man short as Ryan Fairbarn was still serving the last 45 seconds of his late first period penalty for holding. Allen did a solid job on the penalty kill, limiting Odessa’s chances and clearing the puck repeatedly. Just 1:15 after exiting, Fairbarn must have thought he left something in the penalty box because he was sent off again, this time for slashing.
Odessa would not let this opportunity go to waste. With just 18 seconds left on the penalty, Jeff Pierce came down the right wing side and left a drop pass for Dominic Leveille who ripped a wrister past Chris Whitley to get the opening goal at 3:41. The Americans would wait only three minutes to answer back to both tie and then take the lead.
Liam Huculak sent a pass into the crease from behind the net where Matt Radoslovich was able to poke it in. Thirty seconds after scoring the tying goal, the Jacks would be given the man advantage once again when Mike Salekin was given the gate for slashing. Head Coach Dwight Mullins was fairly animated on the bench, giving the referee a piece of his mind as he wanted to know where there was a slash since the offense wasn’t apparent.
The Americans did another good job on the penalty kill, staving off the Odessa advantage with a concerted defensive effort. As the penalty expired, Salekin flew out of the box into the Jacks end and worked hard, battling along the boards to come away with the puck. Salekin gave the puck to Justin Bowers in the corner and he sent a quick backhand pass towards the left circle to Bruce Graham who one-timed it into the net to give the Americans the lead at the 6:41 mark.
Immediately after scoring the go ahead goal, Brandon Straub was called for high sticking and Odessa picked up their power play assault. Whitley made five stops on the man advantage and the Americans increased their physical play and were able to kill the penalty.
Justin Bowers once again found himself with a big target on his back as he took a fist to the face off a hit by Kenny Bernard. Still smarting from the stick in the teeth by Kory Karlander the other night, the blow left Bowers on the ice for a couple of minutes. Bernard was sent to the box for roughing and the Americans were able to manage three shots on the power play but couldn’t get another marker.
A minute after killing the power play, Odessa found the equalizer when Sebastian Thinel picked up a loose puck at center ice and went on the breakaway and fired a shot past the blocker on Whitley at 15:20. Odessa got an obvious spark from the goal and really picked up the tempo, outshooting the Americans in the last couple of minutes to again take the edge in shots at 14-10 with the score knotted at 2-2.
The third period tempo continued to increase at either end with both teams getting rushes and good tries but the biggest action took place in the closing minutes. With 4:54 remaining in regulation, Brandon Straub broke in and took a shot that Martin kicked out with the right pad. The rebound came out near the lower left circle where Nino Musitelli picked it up and fired a shot under the arm of Martin to give the Americans the go ahead goal, making it a 3-2 contest.
Leading by one and with time running down, Allen avoided attacking the puck carrier in their own zone, choosing instead to play a prevent defense, collapsing on the net. When playing like that against a team that can move the puck as well as Odessa, it can prove to be fatal and it did.
Odessa’s frantic attempts to tie the game were rewarded two minutes later. Philippe Plante fired a one timer past Whitley from the left circle off a pass from Dominic Leveille and Odessa’s hopes were still alive. Time expired with the score tied 3-3 and the shots at 32-31 with Odessa having the slight edge.
Overtime began with Odessa fighting for their playoff lives, this was their season on the line and they weren’t ready to let it end just yet. After holding off an American offensive assault in the first six plus minutes of the extra frame, the Jacks managed to score the goal that extended their season one more time. At the 6:52 mark, Garrett Gruenke took a feed from Sebastien Thinel from behind the left post fired a one timer from the left circle five hole to force a Game Seven.
The final game of the series will be played Wednesday night at the Ector County Coliseum.
Contact the author at maurice.fitzgerald@prohockeynews.com
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