WAYNE, NJ – The New Jersey Outlaws franchise may be an expansion team in the FHL, but they sure don’t play like one. Already guaranteed a playoff spot, the Outlaws still had some regular season business to finish.
Last Friday night at the Capital One Ice Vault, New Jersey had a chance to wrap up its first FHL regular season title in front of the team’s fans. Thanks in part to a goal and assist from Kevin Cooper, the Outlaws didn’t disappoint as they edged the Thousand Islands Privateers 4-3.
The late-season battle between the FHL’s top two teams may had lost some of its luster with the Outlaws clinching a post-season berth so early and being on the verge of wrapping up first place. Still, the teams put on a show, battling as if there was a whole lot on the line. The first period was a testament to the intensity as the teams combined for 30 shots in the opening stanza but neither side was able to find the back of the net.
The second period was quite a different story. Although the number of penalties stayed very low (none were called in the stanza), the number of goals went up drastically.
The goal bonanza started just 2:08 in when New Jersey’s Gentry Zollars fired home the first goal of the game past Thousand Islands goalie Peter Dundovich. The visiting Privateers evened the score at the 7:40 mark when Adam McAllister deposited a shot into the back of the net behind New Jersey net minder Adam Dekker. The Outlaws went back in front 27 seconds after McAllister’s tally when Brett Liscomb picked up one of his own at 8:07.
Four and a half minutes after Liscomb scored, Thousand Islands responded with a goal by Brad Smulders that once again tied the score. Not to be outdone, the Outlaws still had one more goal in them. This time it was Cooper who lit the lamp at the 17:18 to put his team up by one goal again, a lead they would take to the final twenty minutes.
The Privateers, knowing that New Jersey was one period away from locking up the regular season crown, came out looking to keep that celebration from happening. Neither goalie was giving any signs of weakness, keeping the scoreboard unchanged past the mid point of the final period.
With just under seven minutes left in regulation, the Privateers thought they had tied the game when the puck found its way behind Dekker. Unfortunately for the visitors, the game officials waived off the score, despite the protests of Paul Kelly Jr. and the rest of the Thousand Islands team. The Outlaws took advantage of the controversial call when Matthew Puntureri lit the goal light behind Dundovich with 5:12 to go. Thousand Islands’ Alex Redmond scored the final goal of the game at 19:59 but it was too little, too late for the Privateers.
For the game, New Jersey out-shot Thousand Islands 49-33. Dekker stopped 31 of the 33 Privateers shots to record the win while his counterpart Dundovich denied 45 shots in the loss.
When the final horn sounded, the fans and the Outlaws team started celebrating what has been an amazing year for a team that six months ago was still in its building stage. New Jersey now has the luxury to rest some players and start getting ready for the playoffs, knowing that being the top seed carries with it a lot of pressure to win. The Outlaws expect to host their first post-season game, possibly against the Cape Cod Bluefins, on March 9th at the Ice Vault.
Contact the author at gary.marchese@prohockeynews.com
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