Game 1: Texas Brahmas (1-1-0) vs. Ogden Mustangs (1-1-0)

The Texas Brahmas came into the 2014 Thorne Cup Finals already feeling as though they’d be overlooked, as one of only two teams in the field to not win their division.

After dropping game one to Fresno on Wednesday, the Brahmas fell behind 2-0 to a lightning fast Ogden Mustangs team but clawed their way back in, scoring three unanswered goals in a 3-2 victory.

A similar start to the one they had in their opener against Phoenix, Ogden was all over the ice from the jump against Texas, using their speed to gain entry into the zone, before hurling a number of shots on goal.

The Brahmas did a fine job of weathering the numerous first period storms however, which included great looks for Jon Mencer and Dusty Watt, both of which were turned away by goaltender Ryan Mulka, who was exceptional.

Texas was able to keep it scoreless early by employing a smart all-around team game, as they stayed positionally sound, collapsed down deep in their zone and kept things simple.

The Brahmas had some good looks early in the second period but Tyler Fallica was strong in net for Ogden, stoning Sebastien Tremblay, Landyn Howze and Austin Murray, all three of whom swarmed the entire game.

With the Brahmas looking like they were on the verge of breaking out, the Mustangs were the ones who got on the board first, as a long wrister from Martin Hallin snuck through Mulka with 15:22 left in the period.

Ogden was able to put a few shifts together after Hallin’s tally, as they continued to be very solid during the handful of shifts immediately following a goal.

They then converted with 12:25 left in the period, as Brody Decker backhanded a rebound home while on the power play to give the Mustangs a 2-0 lead.

Behind hard work from their top forward line and a good break, the Brahmas were able to get back into the game, as a Landyn Howze centering pass was knocked away by Charlie Reed but the Mustangs’ d-man sent the puck right off of the shin pads of a teammate and it slid by Fallica at 9:20.

After Texas was finally able to get some momentum going, which included a number of scoring chances and a partial breakaway bid by Seth Ensor, they were able to knot the game up at 14:48 with another good bounce going their way.

After nabbing a loose puck in the neutral zone, the Brahmas re-grouped quickly and got it ahead to speedy forward Eric Lewis, who drove wide threw a pass up the middle, with the puck deflecting off an Ogden skate and into the net to make the game new heading into the third period.

Turning up the heat once again, the Mustangs began the third period strong and Dusty Watt thought he had broken the tie after dangling past a couple of Texas defenders but his shot rang off the post instead.

Simon Teodorsson was flying around the ice as well and the Swedish speedster had a handful of great chances but Texas’ defense was there to help out Mulka each time, as they got their sticks in lanes and cleared away the garbage in front of their goaltender, with Keith Bendall leading the way.

With Charlie Reed off for hooking at 7:09 of the period, the Brahmas took their first lead of the game, as Austin Murray caught Ogden in a bad change and sped down the wing, before snapping a wrister by Fallica from the faceoff dot to make it 3-2.

Ogden would have their chances late, including a couple of power play opportunities as the period went along but Texas kept deflecting shots away, laying out to block blasts from the point and tying up forwards in front. When shots did get through to the net, Mulka was there to make the stops, including a big one on Jimmy Peplinski, who has shown a knack for scoring big goals.

Seth Ensor would draw a tripping call with less than two minutes left on the clock and Ogden was forced to try and tie the game while short handed but the Brahmas got a couple more big saves from Mulka and a great back-check by Miguel Caron to thwart another Dusty Watt chance, as Texas held on for the upset.

Jeremy Law read his team a quote from Mike Krzykewski, head basketball coach at Duke University, prior to the game and it seems his team took it to heart, as they played with a ton of fight when they could’ve easily folded, especially after falling behind.

They played a very smart hockey game and kept it simple, made few mistakes and took what they were given, with a couple breaks boding huge.

Mulka finished the game with 33 stops on 35 shots, the defense in front of him was clutch and the top forward line of Howze, Murray and Tremblay provided many of the Brahmas’ chances.

Fallica was on his game in net yet again for Ogden and stopped 22 of 25, with only one shot actually beating him and three posts didn’t help the Mustangs offense at the other end.

Again, they have to find a way to find the accelerator and finish games, as they’ve shown flashes of brilliance but need to sustain it if they hope to be playing on Sunday.

Still in a good spot, the Mustangs finish up the partial round robin tomorrow at 3 pm against the Idaho Jr. Steelheads, the same team they swept for the Northwest Division title nearly two weeks ago.

Now with a real shot at a semi-final birth, Texas will face the El Paso Rhinos tomorrow night at 7:30 and if they can keep playing like a team with noting to lose, they could give the hosts a run for their money.

Game 2: Fresno Monsters (2-0-0) vs. Idaho Jr. Steelheads (0-1-1)

Adding another chapter to one of the fiercest rivalries in the WSHL since both teams came into the league in 2009, the Fresno Monsters and Idaho Jr. Steelheads put on another show in El Paso, as they collided in a game that needed extra time to determine a winner.

After Fresno was able to force overtime thanks to a Mike Nolan goal, scored with less than one minute left in regulation, Bryce Dale’s boys completed the comeback late in the first overtime period, as Carter Dahl capitalized off a turnover in a 4-3 Monsters win.

Meeting for the fifth time this season, the two league superpowers felt one another out early, as both teams have changed drastically since they last met at the Showcase in Las Vegas.

There wasn’t a whole lot of action in the opening period, as both teams had a couple of scoring chances but there wasn’t any end to end action, with neither team taking many risks and too many minor penalties called to get any flow going.

With the period winding down, Idaho was able to get on the board first, as Hunter Lester scored on a rush just as a Fresno penalty expired. The Boise native finished off a nice passing play to give Idaho the lead with just 1:38 left before the buzzer.

The penalty parade continued into the second, as Idaho began the middle stanza on the power play but quickly gave it up, went to four-on-four and the teams continued the trend for a few minutes.

Idaho had a great chance to take a two-goal lead with 13:42 left in the period, as Kyle Williams was pulled down on a breakaway and awarded a penalty shot. The depth forward came right down the middle and missed the net by a foot, as Fresno stayed within one.

The Monsters then finally converted on the power play midway through the period, as Corey Sikich snuck down from his point position and found Justin Plate in the low slot and the veteran forward made no mistake, burying it and tying the game at one.

As the period went along, it was then Idaho’s turn to cut a rut to the box, as they began to show some wear from a tough opening game against El Paso the night before.

With things really slowing down late in the period, the Monsters took their first lead of the night, as forward Jordan Fontaine flew over the line and smartly waited for the cavalry to arrive. As traffic accumulated in front of the net, the veteran cut back and fired through a screen, placing his shot perfectly over the pad of Sean Healy to make it 2-1 with 2:06 left.

Just as he did the night before, Jr. Steelheads head coach Kyle Grabowski made more great in-game adjustments and his boys didn’t take long to tie things up in the third, as Hunter Lester jumped on a loose puck in the Fresno zone, before finding a wide-open Dak Dice at the back door, who slammed it by Austin Piquette to tie it at two.

More power plays ensued as the period went along but neither team could convert, until Dice put home his second of the game, this one coming off a rush at 13:45, after a nice feed from Victor Carlsson.

After Idaho took he lead, it was all Fresno over the remaining few minutes, as they came on hard, throwing everything at Idaho goaltender Sean Healy, who had to be on top of his game, robbing Justin Plate and Conner Osborne with highlight-reel saves.

The Monsters never slowed up however and just kept coming at him, before eventually tying it up just after calling a timeout, as Mike Nolan lit the lamp with just 51 seconds left on the clock.

With the goaltender pulled an extra attacker on the ice, a long shot from Mike Fabie hit an Idaho defenseman in front of the net and the puck squirted to Nolan, who put it right back over the outstretched Healy to knot it up.

Despite shots being heavily in favor of Fresno after 60 minutes of play, the game was played pretty evenly, with scoring chances dead even and not surprisingly, overtime was needed to solve it.

Fresno was clearly the hungrier team from the puck drop in overtime and although it took them a while, Carter Dahl, a forward that has improved tremendously in his two seasons with the team, buried one off a turnover to win it.

After Healy had turned away a few more chances, Idaho failed to make a simple cross-ice pass in their own zone and Alex Schwartz quickly threw it at the net. His original shot was stopped but the rebound slid right onto the tape of Dahl, who sent it into the empty net with 3:05 left on the clock, as the Monsters poured onto the ice in ecstasy.

Dahl, who’s not even 17 yet, was all over the ice throughout the game for Fresno and Austin Piquette, who had some struggles early in the playoff run, was steady once again, stopping 18 of 21, with a lot of help from the defensive group in front of him.

Healy was sensational for Idaho for the second straight night, stopping 44 of 48 in total but was hit with the overtime loss. Dice had a hand in each Idaho goal, finishing the game with two goals and an assist, while Lester notched one of each.

Fresno ran into some penalty trouble again but they never stopped working and were full of energy in the overtime period, showing the kind of conditioning it will take to keep up with El Paso, should they eventually meet.

With the goaltending really starting to come around now, Bryce Dale’s team looks as determined as ever to lift the Thorne Cup and will finish up the partial round robin portion tomorrow at 3 pm against the Phoenix Knights, who will be desperate for a win, while Fresno is already guaranteed of a spot in Saturday’s semi-finals.

Idaho played better than they did against El Paso but don’t have as much depth as they once did. Healy was great and can keep them in games but they need guys other than Dice and Carlsson to put the puck in the net, especially on the power play, where they were once unstoppable.

They’ll need a win tomorrow to have any shot at the semi-finals, as they face Ogden at 11 am, the same team that swept them on home ice two weeks ago and you know the Mustangs will want to officially knock them out of the post-season.

Game 3: El Paso Rhinos (2-0-0) vs. Phoenix Knights (0-2-0)

For the first time in a while, the El Paso Rhinos faced some adversity, as the Phoenix Knights gave the top-seed an early scare. As good teams do however, they chipped away at the lead, before eventually digging all the way out of the hole and fighting back for a 5-3 win.

After starting slow in their opening game against Ogden on Wednesday, the Knights came out fast and hard against the Rhinos and seemed to surprise the hosts early on.

Wasting no time and taking advantage of some sloppy defensive zone play by El Paso, Ryan McNeely, who has been nearly unstoppable over the last two months, jumped on a loose puck and put home his own rebound after Adam Vay made the initial stop, giving the Knights a 1-0 lead just 1:34 in.

The chances continued for Phoenix over the next couple minutes of clock time, as the Rhinos struggled to make tape-to-tape passes and couldn’t find any rhythm, with Vay having to make a couple of big stops to bail them out.

El Paso slowly but surely started to find their bearings as the period went along, although much like the first two games of the day, there didn’t seem to be a whole lot of flow in the opening frame.

The teams traded chances near the middle part of the period, with Alex Taylor making a big kick save on Tom Bartel and Vay doing the same to Phoenix’ Mattias Marten.

The Knights were able to excel throughout the opening 20 minutes due to the fact they didn’t allow the Rhinos to dictate play but instead kept El Paso on their heels, not sitting back and allowing them to mold the game the way they’d like to.

Although the Rhinos did show signs of the inevitable storm that was coming with their steady play late in the period, Vay was forced to use all 78 inches of his frame to make a huge stop on Jordan Cullum’s point-blank chance to help his team get into the locker room trailing by just one.

Coming out with much more jump in the second, the Rhinos knotted things up just 13 seconds in, as big Austin Hoff corralled a puck at the bottom of the circle and ripped one by Taylor to tie it at one.

With the Rhinos looking like they were going to take over the game for good, the Knights quickly came right back and took a two-goal lead, as Mattias Marten and Max Mahood scored just 1:20 apart to completely silence the home crowd.

From the very second after Mahood made it 3-1 however, it was all Rhinos, as they took their game to another level and stormed their way back into the game.

Taylor, who had experienced a tough post-season up until this game, made a number of big stops, including a pair on the red-hot Plesa brothers, robbing Nick and Matthew’s “Grade A” chances but the Rhinos never relented.

His best save of the night and arguably the best save in the league this season came with 5:52 left in the period, as he absolutely robbed Kalvis Ozols’ chance from the bottom of the circle, making a beautiful glove save that even received “oooh’s” from the El Paso faithful.

The tide really turn for good just over a minute later however, as Chris Wilhite crept down from the point and whipped one high into the net to pull El Paso within one and with 2:25 left, Tom Bartel’s long wrister found its way through traffic to knot it up.

Even with just a couple minutes left on the clock, Taylor still had to make even more saves before the period concluded, as the second couldn’t end fast enough for the Knights, who looked like a wounded prize fighter just trying to rope a dope their way out of the round.

The two teams traded power play looks early in the third but the Knights couldn’t get anything going, as the El Paso swarm continued, even while short handed.

The comeback was completed eight minutes into the third when Nick Plesa, stymied for most of the game, finally broke through with assists from his two brothers, who controlled the puck for most of the power play before converting to make it 4-3.

Although the El Paso was only one with plenty of time left, it felt much greater, as the Rhinos were hitting on all cylinders and the Knights looked understandably demoralized.

Max Mahood, who had one of his most effective games of the post-season, had a terrific breakaway chance but Vay somehow kept it and the ensuring rebound out of the net by sprawling out in his crease but Phoenix did wind up with a power play shortly thereafter.

The Knights had their chances while on the man advantage, as they used El Paso’s aggressive penalty kill against them and opened up some seams but Vay stood his ground and the one time he was down and out, Austin Hoff got back to guard the empty cage and save the day.

With time winding down, Chad Cesarz put the icing on the cake with one of his patented wrist shots, as the veteran broke down the wing and zipped one past Taylor with 2:06 to go to make it 5-3.

The Knights pulled the goaltender late in hopes of getting back within one but they weren’t able to do much and El Paso held on for the win.

The Rhinos got a good effort in net from Vay, especially early and the big Hungarian stopped 25 of 28 in the win. The Plesa line was strong once again, while Cesarz and Hoff each had a goal and an assist to lead the way.

Assured of a spot in the semi-finals on Saturday, the Rhinos finish up the partial round robin tomorrow night at 7:30 against Texas, who they swept in the division finals just two weeks ago and would love to officially bounce from the post-season.

Phoenix showed what they can do when on top of their game and when they went up 3-1, it really looked like they might pull it out. They’ve played the Rhinos as well as anyone this season but again, consistency was an issue, as they just couldn’t keep it up for a full 60 minutes.

Taylor was very good, stopping 34 of 38 in net and their top forwards were solid but they fell into the two-goal lead trap and never recovered.

They still have an outside shot at the semis but have to beat Fresno when they clash tomorrow at 3 pm and get some help to keep their season alive.

 

Story by Brent Maranto does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Western States Hockey League a whole

Photo courtesy of Sofie Kitterod