HYANNIS, Mass – Friday night was a lively night at the Hyannis Youth and Community Center to say the least and any hockey fan who was not in attendance missed perhaps the game of the year in the Federal Hockey League. The Bluefins honored the Mashpee High School Super Bowl Champions and even had local UFC Fighter, Christian Morecraft on hand to watch a great game between the Cape Cod Bluefins and the visiting New Jersey Outlaws.
It took only 3 minutes and 38 seconds for the Outlaws, the league’s first place team to strike gold when Trevor Karasiewicz blasted a high slap shot over the shoulder of Bluefins goalie Chris Testa. It was Testa’s first game back after a knee injury kept him out for a month and perhaps he was naturally feeling the rust. However, exactly 2 minutes later, Anthony Battaglia converted a pretty Travis Kauffeldt to Karasiewicz tic tack passing play and made it 2 – 0 in favor of the Outlaws. It seemed like that line got off the bus with scoring in mind. At 7:21, the home team got their first goal off the stick of newly acquired forward, Vincent Amigone Jr. The power play goal was Amigone’s first as a Bluefin and was assisted by David Lun and Derek Scanlon. At 8:55 the visitors again hit pay dirt when Battaglia beat Testa for his second of the night to make it 3-1 New Jersey. The home team, however would not be discouraged and at 18:59 of the first Matt Harrington banged home an Amigone blast and made it 3-2. By the end of the first period it seemed as though momentum was on the Bluefins side as they went to the locker room down just 1 goal.
At the outset of the second period, the home team was on fire scoring 2 goals within the first 5 minutes. The first off the stick of Brad Surdam. The goal was Surdams 20th of the season and was assisted by Brewster’s Andrew Hutton and player/coach, Dan Gordon. Just over a minute later the Bluefins struck again when Hutton knocked in a rebound past New Jersey goalie Adam Dekker and it seemed that the Bluefins Hutton/Gordon/Surdam line had their own plans in mind for filling the net. From that point on it was a an up and down battle. Some would say some very good hockey was being played. The Fins killed off a power play and during one of their own, Testa stopped Battaglia on a breakaway which would have given the Outlaw forward a hat trick. However, at 10:31 Kevin Cooper was given a breakaway of his own which Testa could not stop and the visitors had tied it up at 4. But the Bluefins’ big guns struck again when Surdam scored his second of the night again assisted by Gordon and Hutton. The Fins were up 5-4 and the crowd was witnessing an excellent hockey game but the Outlaws would not go away and at 18:22 of the second, Lawne Snyder flipped a wrist shot through a screen of bodies that found it’s way past Testa to tie the score at 5. Just when it seemed that the period would end, Cape Cod again lit the lamp when AJ Tesorieo scored his 10th of the season on a nifty wrist shot into the top corner that Dekker had no chance to save.
This was shaping up to be the game of the year as both teams came out in the third period determined to gain momentum. Both teams resorted to “rough stuff” to try and intimidate the other. Even to the point where fight broke out between the Bluefins’ Paul Weisser and the Outlaw’s Jason Reese. The Bluefins even had a power play which they couldn’t capitalize on. At the 5:34 mark, New Jersey’s high scoring defenseman Jeff Winchester wristed a high shot that beat Testa over his left shoulder to knot the core at 6. For Winchester it was his 5th goal as an Outlaw since being acquired last month. At that point it was “Dekker Time” as the New Jersey goaltender saved several would be Bluefin goals from point blank range thus keeping his team from what could have been a multiple goal deficit.
The third period ended with the score all tied up at 6.
The overtime format in the FHL is a 3 on 3 setup which makes for fast, wide open hockey. Unfortunately, just :28 into the overtime frame, referee Derek Wasiak called a very shaky holding penalty on the Bluefins, Harrington. Again, per FHL rules this now made it a 4 on 3 situation in favor of the visitors. Fortunately though, the home team killed off the 1 minute shorthanded situation. The Bluefins vision of an overtime victory was almost realized at the 3 minute mark when Harrington broke in alone on a breakaway but Dekker was again there to make a huge stop. Testa also made some spectacular saves to keep the Bluefins alive. After 65 minutes of hockey the score was knotted at 6 and we were going to a shootout.
After 3 shooters each and no goals, the shootout went into sudden death. The 5th shooter for Cape Cod was sandwich native Brian Kolb who scored with a nice top shelf wrist shot to seal the victory.
The Bluefins play next tomorrow night (Saturday) on Martha’s Vineyard vs. the Danbury Whalers and next weekend March 2nd and 3rd, complete the regular season at the Hyannis Youth and Community Center.
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