Tied up: Wildcats make playoff series 1-1 after an 8-4 win over Yarmouth
The Valley Wildcats managed to settle the score with the Yarmouth Mariners in game two of the fast paced playoff series.
Yarmouth led the series 1-0 following a 3-2 win in triple overtime in the first match-up between the junior A teams March 13.
Going into the playoffs, both teams had a reputation of winning on home ice and that tradition still holds true after their latest contest at the Kings Mutual Century Centre in Berwick March 15 as the Wildcats downed the Mariners 8-4 on home ice to tie the playoff series.
Wildcats head coach Nick Greenough was thrilled with the win, but he’s not taking anything for granted as he gets the Wildcats ready to return to Yarmouth for the third game of this best-of-seven playoff series March 17.
“I know they’re going to be ready. They always play well at home, so we’ve just got to come and play the same way we did tonight,” he said, following the March 15 match-up.
Greenough said a burst of energy served the Wildcats well during the offensive rushes and multiple penalty kills in game two.
“We were a little harder on pucks and we were moving our feet. We’re a team that’s built around speed and last game we looked a little sluggish.”
Game Two details
Jeremy Butterworth put the Wildcats on the scoreboard first with a top shelf marker that bested Yarmouth goaltender Chase Gaudet’s glove side nearly three minutes into the first.
Yarmouth’s Tyler Brown responded for the Mariners, quickly making it a 1-1 contest, but Butterworth’s second goal of the game came seconds later.
The Wildcats held a 2-1 lead at the close of the first, but only managed to get one extra shot on net over Yarmouth’s 12.
Valley’s Austin Harding opened up the scoring in the second with a high shot buried at 5:17. Matt Wright added another for the Wildcats a few minutes later, then Yarmouth’s Charles Poulin scored the last goal of the second to make it a 4-2 game for the home team going into the third.
The Wildcats were in penalty kill mode for a good portion of the second period, allowing Yarmouth to take a 26-21 lead in shots on goal. The Valley squad had eight penalties to Yarmouth’s six at the close of the period.
The Mariners claimed the first goal of the third, pushing through traffic in front of a crowded Wildcats net to make it 4-3 in the final period of play.
The one-goal game was short lived, with Grant Janes quickly adding another tally to the Wildcats’ total.
Josh Worthen gave the Wildcats a three-point cushion with 13:24 minutes of play remaining, and added another on a power play chance to make it 7-3 with 11:12 on the clock.
Butterworth stick-handled his way into a hat trick with 8:22 left in the game to score the Wildcats eighth, and final, goal of the evening.
The Mariners battled until the final buzzer sounded, with Ross Martin record- ing the last goal of the night at 17:55.
The Wildcats had 38 shots on goal to the Mariners’ 31.
Greenough was pleased to see Butterworth, one of the team’s top scorers, secure the hat trick in game two.
“He’s scored some big goals for us so it’s nice seeing him get the hat trick. I know he had a few games earlier in the year where he’s got two and he never got that third one, so it was good and hopefully he can stay hot here for the next little bit.”
Game 1 details
There was no scoring in the first period of the first playoff game between the Yarmouth Mariners and the Valley Wildcats in Yarmouth on Friday night. Then again, there wasn’t any scoring in the fourth or fifth periods either.
It took six periods of hockey before Brandon Syms finally buried the puck to bring the game to an end and give the Mariners the 3-2 win in triple overtime.
A game that was supposed to last 60 minutes went on for 95 minutes and 40 seconds.
“That was the most important goal of my hockey career so far, I was pretty excited,” Syms said after the game. “(Blake) Busch took the puck wide and gave me a good draw and I just finished it. I kind of blacked out from there, I was so excited.”
After a scoreless first, three goals came in a flurry in the second, with the Mariners’ Shawn Boudreau scoring at 7:27 and Ross Martin picking up a second goal at 8:20. Valley’s Jean-Marc Evans Renaud answered at 9:19.
The Wildcats tied things up at 16:08 in the third period on a goal by Kaden Ruest. It was Ruest’s first goal in two years with the Wildcats.
The first 10-minute overtime, followed by a second 20-minute OT, solved nothing for either team, and as the third overtime period got underway you could see that the players were pretty spent on the ice. Finally, Syms had the winner. “It wasn’t even so much excited that we scored, it was like, ‘Finally, it’s over’,” Syms said. The Mariners lost Billy Hartley during the March 13 game after he left the ice in the second period with an apparent ankle injury. Hartley did come back for a few shifts during the second overtime period, but said after the game he’ll need to have his foot and ankle x-rayed and was not dressed for the March 15 game. Hartley had the most points of the Mariners defence this year.
Looking ahead
The Wildcats and the Mariners met in Yarmouth on March 17 for Game 3 and return to Berwick for Game 4 on March 19 at 7 p.m. Game 5 will be held in Yarmouth March 21 at 7:30 p.m.
If needed, Game 6 will be back at the Apple Dome March 23 at 7 p.m. and Game 7 is in Yarmouth March 25 at 7:30 p.m.
KingsCountyNews.ca will be live-blogging all of the games to keep fans up-todate on what’s happening. Follow the blog in the right-hand column of the website. Readers can also comment and ask questions on the blog or via Twitter using the hashtag #MHL.