The Port Perry MoJacks will try to regain the upper hand in their Orr Division Semi-Final series versus the Clarington Eagles on Sunday afternoon back at the friendly confines of The Scugog Memorial Arena.  The MoJacks jumped out to a 1-0 series lead last Wednesday before the Eagles evened things up on Thursday night with a 4-3 victory on home ice.  Game 3 will go Sunday at 2:25 PM.

It’s no surprise that the two teams have played a pair of close games to get things started - five of their seven regular season contests were decided by one goal.  It also isn’t a shock that special teams have been an important factor, as the Jacks can point to a couple lapses in discipline in Thursday’s loss.

The Eagles power play struck just less than four minutes into the first period when Cody Kean scored his second goal of the playoffs on a quick wrap around beating goalie Brett Chandler to the post.  It marked the only goal Clarington would register with the man advantage, but the MoJacks demonstrated a habit of killing their own momentum with ill-timed infractions throughout the game.

The Eagles started strong, feeding Port Perry a bit of their own medicine from the third period of game 1 by locking down the neutral zone and forcing the MoJacks into difficult passes which resulted in many turn overs and disjointed attacks.  The Eagles’ patience paid off later in the opening frame when, after being under serious pressure, a MoJacks clearing attempt took a strange bounce off a stanchion and landed right on the stick of Patrick Bolahood.  He chipped the puck into the slot where Simon Taskas had crept in from the blue line.  Taskas buried the disc for his first of the post-season before Port Perry could react, and the Eagles had a two goal lead.

In the second period, it was the Jacks’ power play which got things rolling.  The Eagles managed to stave off a 5-on-3, but a third straight penalty kill was too much to ask, and Mitchell Gustavsen made them pay when he executed a beautiful deflection of a Dan Harris point shot, tipping the puck up and over the shoulder of Mark Robb for his first of the playoffs.  Harris has arguably been Port Perry’s best skater in the two games, and he factored in again in the dying seconds of the middle period.

With the clock ticking down, the Eagles got caught skating up ice.  Graham Lamers kept the puck inside the blue line and fired a shot on goal.  A surprised Robb let out an uncharacteristic rebound, and Harris was in the perfect spot to drill it home with 1.3 seconds on the clock to tie the game and send the MoJacks to the dressing room with the momentum.

Port Perry fired 14 shots on Robb in the second period and carried much of the play.  The difference was their adjustment in the middle of the ice.  Instead of trying to generate offense by carrying the puck, they were able to gather speed through the neutral zone by chipping pucks off the boards and putting pressure on the Eagles defencemen.  To their credit however, the Eagles kept their legs, and just past the five minute mark of the third, Colin Weston spotted the smooth skating William Lamoureux breaking.  He snagged the pass in stride, split the defence, walked in and ripped a perfect shot past Chandler to restore the Eagles lead.

The MoJacks fought back though, and after a determined forecheck, Cole Murray muscled the puck out front to a waiting Brady Martin who jammed it home for his first of the post-season and a tie game once more.  Liam Schweda drew the second assist for his first point since returning to the line up.

Clarington bounced right back after Martin’s goal, with their top line of Weston, Keen and Nicholas Ainsworth hemming the Jacks in their own zone.  After generating three grade A scoring chances, forcing Chandler into a flurry of difficult stops, Weston leaned into a one-timer from between the circles to light the lamp.  His fifth of the playoffs proved to be the game winner, as the MoJacks applied heavy pressure in the final minutes but failed to beat Robb, who has been excellent in the two games.

The highly entertaining series continues on Sunday afternoon in Port Perry at 2:25.

Game Within The Game:

The battle between number nines has been fun to watch.  The Orr Division’s leading scorer Mitchell Gustavsen has been seeing a ton of defenceman Patrick McAuliffe throughout the first two contests.  Both players feature an edge to their game and the head-to-head matchup has been clean but ferocious at times, as both men try to get under each other’s skin.  With home ice advantage in game 3, it will be interesting to see whether Coach Tom Boyle tries to get Gustavsen away from the matchup or not.

Of note, defenceman Dan Harris has two goals and three assists in the first two games of the series to lead all players with five points.  Forward Ryan Bernardes missed Thursday’s game with a lower body injury, but is expected back in the line up on Sunday.  The MoJacks missed his presence especially on the penalty kill and in the faceoff circle, where he dominated defensive zone draws in game 1.  Before the game, Robb and his goalie partner Curtis Laviolette were recognized for posting the highest combined save percentage in the Orr Division this season.