ST. JOHN’S, NFLD – Through three rounds of the 2019 ECHL Kelly Cup Playoffs, Newfoundland Growlers goalie Michael Garteig had allowed three or more goals in a single game five times over the course of 17 contests. Saturday night, when the Toledo Walleye got to him three times in a span of just over six minutes in the third period of Game 1 of the championship series, it could have been spelled doom for the North division and Eastern Conference champs.
Instead, Garteig’s teammates – specifically rookie Josh Kestner – returner the favor by having his back and finishing the job.
Kestner scored twice, including the game-winner 4:58 into the first overtime, to propel the Growlers to a 4-3 victory over the Western Conference champion Walleye in front of a sellout crowd of 6,261 at the Mile One Centre. With the win, Newfoundland took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series with Game 2 set for Sunday night in St. John’s.
Kestner, just one of a number of first-year players who have led the Growlers throughout the regular and post-seasons, netted arguably his biggest goal of the season on a spectacular individual effort. Taking a pass from teammate Hudson Elynuik in the neutral zone, Kestner flew like the wind into the Toledo end. He was able to turn past a defender and cut to the net, firing a shot over the far side shoulder of Walleye netminder Pat Nagle from a tight angle to send the home fans home in delight.
The fact that the contest ended up with a total of seven goals scored came as a surprise to many as for more than forty minutes, Garteig (30 saves) and Nagle (34 saves) were locked in a feature battle. Between the two netminders, they combined for 43 stops – many of them spectacular – through two periods with host Newfoundland catching two breaks to grab a 2-0 lead heading to the third period.
The feeling out process in the opening period was more like a back-and-forth tussle with each team having its moments of pressure in the other’s defensive end. Despite having just played a Game 7 on Wednesday and spending Thursday traveling, Toledo had plenty of jump in its step, forcing Garteig to be sharp. The Growlers netminder turned away a rebound attempt by the Walleye’s David Pope during a man advantage to keep the game scoreless. Garteig also had luck on his side when a close in try by Tyker Spezia snuck through his pads but the loose puck was cleared away before it got across the goal line.
In the late stages of the frame, Garteig and Nagle traded ten-bell saves when Garteig flashed his glove hand to rob Zach Gallant a few moments before Nagle denied Scott Pooley on an odd-man rush, sliding left to right to make a pad save.
With less than ten seconds remaining in the frame, the Growlers beat Nagle and the clock to open the scoring. Elynuik tried a wraparound that the Toledo goalie kicked away. The rebound skidded into the slot where a mad scramble ensued. Somehow Newfoundland’s Zack O’Brien found it and fired it into the top corner of the cage as the clock hit triple zeros. After a short discussion, the game officials put four-tenths of a second back up and ruled that O’Brien had netted his 15th tally of the post season.
The second period was more of the same as Newfoundland had the lead and went into a defensive lockdown. Garteig got some help early when teammate Sam Jardine was able to foil a back door attempt by Toledo’s A.J. Jenks with a nifty stick lift. At the other end, Nagle was keeping the Walleye in the game with plays like a well-timed poke check to disrupt a drive to the net by the Growlers’ Brady Ferguson.
The home team was playing patiently on offense and the plan paid off midway through the stanza. At the 9:46 mark, a Walleye turnover behind their own net left the puck with Kestner. Kestner immediately fed it to the slot where Elynuik was cruising in. Elynuik put a shot on net that managed to trickle its way past Nagle and in for Elynuik’s 5th post-season score and a 2-0 lead. It was the last of the scoring as the two goalies were perfect the rest of the way, sending the Growlers to the final twenty up by two.
The margin for Newfoundland grew to 3-0 early in the third when Kestner flashed his jets. Taking a pass from Giorgio Estephan, Kestner drove hard down the wing and headed straight for the blue paint. He managed to slip the puck between Nagle’s legs before colluding with the netminder, sending the two into the net. The officials ruled in the Growlers favor, saying the puck had crossed over the line before the collision and the net becoming dislodged, giving Kestner his 7th at 1:21 of the final frame.
Faced with growing frustration over not finding a way to beat Garteig, the Walleye dug their skates in and began to mount a comeback. At the 6:28 mark, veteran Chris Crane finally dented Garteig’s wall with a wrist shot from the high slot that surprised the Newfoundland netminder for Crane’s 3rd of the playoffs.
Less than a minute later, the Growlers were tagged for having too many men on the ice, putting Toledo on the power play for the second time in the contest. This time the Walleye made the home team pay when Shane Berschbach carried the puck into the face off circle to Garteig’s right and sniped a shot top corner on the short side for his 6th playoff tally, cutting the deficit to 3-2.
The visitors could feel the momentum on their side and turned it into a game-tying score with 7:16 left in regulation. Greg Wolfe was in the right place to scoop up the rebound of a shot by Brenden Kotyk and blasted a shot home from the circle to Garteig’s left for his 8th to make it 3-3.
The Walleye had a golden opportunity to find the game winner when they went on the power play with three minutes left in regulation. The Growlers had other ideas, clamping down and letting Garteig do his thing. Nothing came of the Toledo advantage and the teams headed off to overtime.
Both teams played somewhat cautiously as the extra period began, realizing that even one little error could be costly. Nagle and Garteig each made three fairly run of the mill saves to keep play going. Then as the clock spun toward five minutes of elapsed time, a Walleye attempt at a zone rush was thwarted at the Growlers defensive blueline, leading to Elynuik’s pass to Kestner who ended the proceedings with his second of the night and 8th of the post-season.
Sunday’s Game 2 is set for a 7 p.m. start time in St. John’s (5:30 p.m. Eastern time). The series will then shift to Toledo for games 3, 4 and if necessary 5 beginning on Wednesday.
Game Notes: Final shots were 38-33 in favor of Newfoundland… Toledo went 1-for-3 on the power play while the Growlers ended the night 0-for-1…Â Crane’s goal ended Garteig’s shutout streak at 167:38 dating back to the late stages of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals against Florida… Toledo defenseman Matt Register is playing in his fourth consecutive Kelly Cup Finals series, having won titles with Allen 2016) and two with Colorado (2017 and 2018)… The Walleye hosted a watch party on the Jumbotron at Fifth-Third Bank Field in Toledo, home of the Toledo Mud Hens baseball team. More than 1,600 fans showed up to support the Walleye.
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