BROOKLYN, NY – Playoff hockey is all about adjustments. The team that is able to best adapt and change to fit the moment usually survives a series and moves on.
One day after being drubbed 9-2 in game one of the FHL Commissioner’s Cup South division finals, the Danbury Whalers stunned the New York Aviators 5-2 at the Aviator Sports and Recreation Center to even the best-of-five series at one win apiece. Alec Kirschner scored two goals and added two assists to lead the Whalers, who have now won two of the last three meetings between the teams, including ending the Aviators’ league-record 21-game winning streak.
Games three and four are set for next Friday and Saturday at the Danbury Ice Arena.
“They’re a very good hockey club. Last night we just weren’t prepared,” Danbury coach and director of hockey operations Chris Firriolo said. “We made the adjustments and physically we took the body, took away space, didn’t give them a lot of room. (The) guys learned a lesson from last night.”
Danbury brought approximately 150 vociferous fans with them to the Aviator, all of them hoping to see the Whalers break the Aviators’ 17-game winning streak at home as well as revenge for the disheartening loss on Friday. Despite being outnumbered among the 1,621 who attended the contest (New York’s largest crowd of the year), they did their part to make their heroes feel at home by loudly booing the home team during player introductions and award presentations.
Firriolo’s missive to his squad about squeezing off New York’s high-flying offense to heart. After giving up three goals in the initial 6:18 of game one, the Whalers continually challenged the Aviators at every turn. The close quarters play created numerous penalties but resulted in a 0-0 deadlock after the first period.
Special teams became a much bigger factor in the middle stanza. A double minor called on New York’s Angelo Serse gave Danbury an opening and they took it. Late in the second minor, Kirschner tallied his first of the night, converting a pass from Andrew Willock to give the Whalers the lead. Just over a minute and another man advantage later, the lead doubled to 2-0 when center Martin Moucha scored at the 9:54 mark.
The Aviators got onto the board at 15:28 of the period when John Goffredo tallied a power play goal of his own, slicing the lead to 2-1 and bringing the home fans into the contest. This was however a different Danbury team on the ice and the Whalers answered with an unassisted goal by Lynn Beedle at the 17:58 mark to send the game to the final period with Danbury up 3-1.
Having been held to just 12 shots and one goal in 40 minutes of play after having six goals and 23 shots in the same period the night before, the Aviators came out in the third with a fire that was missing up to that point. Danbury goalie Peter Vetri, who had been victimized by the opening stanza early in game one, closed the door time after time to keep New York at bay. It allowed the Whalers’ offense to do its job as Kirschner notched his second goal of the night at 3:55 followed by Willock’s first of the series at 6:21, taking a once close contest and making it into a signature win. Nick Vandenbeld scored for the Aviators with just over two minutes left but it was too little, too late to avoid the series-tying victory by the Whalers, who saluted their fans after the final buzzer – a salute that was returned as the team left the locker room for the bus later on.
New York coach and team president Rob Miller expressed disappointment in his team’s game two performance, especially in light of the dominating display just 24 hours earlier.
“A totally different team showed up today. We didn’t do one little thing today that we did yesterday,” Miller said. “It’s a bad day. (We) can’t have too many bad days in a five game series.”
Game Notes: Vetri was Firriolo’s only option in net Saturday as his other net minder, Nick Niedert, was called up by the Dayton Gems of the CHL while the team was on the way to Brooklyn. Vetri made 29 saves to post the win…The Whalers also lost defenseman Leland Fiedler to a call-up after the game. Fiedler was tabbed by the Elmira Jackals of the ECHL and his status for next weekend is not known…FHL MVP Kevin Druce was pulled from the Aviators net after Willock’s score. Druce made 24 saves on the 29 shots he faced in absorbing the loss. Backup goalie John Dorman played the final 13:39, stopping all five shots he faced…After going 3-for-4 on the power play in game one, New York was an anemic 1-for-7 in game two. The Whalers are 3-13 with the man advantage through the first two contests in the series.
Contact the author at marc.spitzer@prohockeynews.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.