Trotter lifts IceCaps to game one victory over Penguins

ST. JOHN’S, Newfoundland and Labrador – When the St. John’s IceCaps

traded for Brock Trotter late in the 2011-12 AHL season, they hoped to be adding an offensive player that could add a new dimension to a mostly blue-collar team. On Tuesday, Trotter showed the team they made a wise decision in picking him up, as he scored two goals in the IceCaps 3-1 win over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in game one of the teams’ Eastern Conference semifinal.
“He brings some really high-end skill to the team,” IceCaps defenseman Brett Festerling said of Trotter after the game one victory. “He’s a smooth player, I think you saw that on his breakaways tonight and the overtime winner against Syracuse (when Trotter assisted on Derek Meech’s goal).”
Both of Trotter’s goals on Tuesday were scored on breakaways, as the five-foot-nine, 180-pound right winger snuck behind the Penguins’ defense and accepted tape-to-tape passes from teammates Travis Ramsey and Paul Postma respectively.
“On the first one Rammer (Travis Ramsay) took the guy’s sandwich and kind of floated it over everyone. I got behind their D and just tried tomake a move on the goalie. The second one Postma made a really good play up the middle. I was trying to catch their D by surprise again,” said Trotter. “I try to do that most games. I’m obviously not the biggest guy on the ice, so I have to utilize my speed. They have some big, strong D out there so I have to keep my feet moving.”
Trotter has been a leader offensively throughout the postseason for St. John’s, registering three goals and three assists in five games. His playoff performance erases any doubts about his health, which was a concern late in the regular season.
In fact, Trotter had to wait weeks before even suiting up for the IceCaps after they acquired his rights from the Portland Pirates due to an undisclosed upper body injury. He managed to recover in time to play the team’s final two regular season games and is now part of a dangerous scoring line along with center Patrice Cormier and left winger Spencer Machacek.
“When we made the trade for him, we did a lot of research into not only what type of player he is, but also what type of guy he is. All those reports were good. Injury-wise, our training staff the Winnipeg’s training staff did a great job getting him ready to play,” IceCaps coach Keith McCambridge said of Trotter.
Tuesday’s game started with a flurry of scoring opportunities for both teams, but it was the Penguins that opened the scoring at 4:42 of the first period with a power play goal from Cal O’Reilly. Trotter’s first goal of the night at 7:25 of the second frame tied the game at one, and his second of the contest at 2:27 of the third period gave the IceCaps a 2-1 lead. Garth Murray made it 3-1 for St. John’s when he scored at 18:06 of the third.
Brad Thiessen made 34 saves in the Penguins’ net, while Eddie Pasquale stopped 19 shots in goal for the IceCaps. Although the St. John’s goaliewas not overly busy in the game, McCambridge spoke highly of the timely saves made by the IceCaps net minder.
“I thought they had some high quality chances but he stepped up and made some big saves,” McCambridge said. “You need those saves in the playoffs and it was a really strong outing by him.”
Game two of the IceCaps-Penguins Eastern Conference semifinal goes tonight at Mile One Centre in St. John’s.
Contact the writer at Darcy.MacRae@prohockeynews.com
Contact the photographer at Jeff.Cull@prohockeynews.com