WAYNE, NJ – Nathan Oke tallied one goal and two assists, Matt Puntureri and Matt Miller each tallied goals, and Dan McWhinney made 34 saves in leading the New Jersey Outlaws to a 3-0 victory over the Cape Cod Bluefins Saturday night at the Capital One Ice Vault. The Outlaws now take a commanding two games to none lead in the best -of-5 series in the FHL Commissioners Cup Playoffs.
The first period started off with both teams methodically measuring each other in the first 10 minutes. But once the Outlaws started on their first power play did the shots start flying for both sides. But after 20 minutes of play, both McWhinney and Cape Cod’s Adam Roy were more than equal to the task, with Roy turning aside 17 shots and McWhinney 11 in a scoreless stanza.
In the second period, the Outlaws finally drew first blood, but not without controversy. Cape Cod had thought they took a 1-0 lead, only to have their blast ruled off the crossbar by the officiating crew. Shortly after that, the Outlaws took their good fortune down the other end, with Matt Puntureri converting a Jason Reese pass to give New Jersey the 1-0 advantage at the 10:36. Nathan Oke also assisted on the play. But Roy stood tall after that making several big saves and keeping the margin at 1 by making 20 saves in the second. The allimportant second goal came at the 2;13 mark of the third period. Matt Miller rushed into the Bluefin zone on the left side, and his centering pass attempt deflected off of a Cape Cod defender in front and through the pads of Roy. Oke and McWhinney earned assists on the goal that gave the home side a 2-0 advantage. Cape Cod would push hard to cut into the deficit, but McWhinney and the Outlaw defense made several key plays in preserving the two-goal edge. Finally, at 15:06, Nathan Oke put the game out of reach. He received a pass from Travis Kauffeldt in the slot and wristed one over Roy’s shoulder to give New Jersey the 3-0 that would hold for the remainder of the contest. Trevor Karasiewicz also earned a helper on the goal. The next game in the best-of-5 series will be at the Hyannis Youth Community Center in Cape Cod on Wednesday night at 7:35 pm. The game can be seen on the livesportsvideo.com. If necessary, Game 4 will be at HYCC on Thursday and Game 5 will be at the Ice Vault on Saturday night.
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