A rolling puck in the excessive Cedar Park heat spun away from Abbotsford Canuck defender Christian Wolanin and that unfortunate bounce helped give the Texas Stars a 2-1 overtime win and life in the Western Conference Finals.
The Abbotsford Canucks are now hoping the spinning out of control stays in Texas, as the best-of-seven series returns to Abbotsford for game six inside the Abbotsford Centre on Sunday (June 8).
Stars forward Jack Becker pounced on the puck and then set up Texas captain Curtis McKenzie, who beat Arturs Silovs on the short side at 2:09 to win game five in Texas on Friday (June 6).
"It was a great hunt by Becks [Becker] there to get the guy off the puck and he made a great play putting it out front and getting it to me short side out front," "This time of the year you don't see many pretty goals and it was just a playoff goal."
Playoff goals weren't easy to come by on Stars massive goalie Magnus Hellberg, who made 30 saves for the win. The 6-6 Swedish product came on in relief in game four and made 22 saves and he followed that performance up with a spectacular game on Friday. He could become a problem for the Canucks as this series continues.
Texas forward Justin Hryckowian opened the scoring at 3:56 of the first period with a power play goal that fooled Silovs five-hole. Both teams recorded nine shots in the first period.
The physicality ramped up in the second period, especially at the end of the frame when Ty Mueller and Alex Petrovic dropped the gloves. Three other Abbotsford players and two other Texas players were assessed roughing or unsportsmanlike conduct penalties during the ensuing scrums.
Abbotsford out shot Texas 9-6 in the second, but again Hellberg stood tall and the score remained 1-0 Stars after 40 mintues.
The Canucks finally broke through at 2:42 of the third when Arshdeep Bains scored his first of the playoffs. The power play goal was Bains' first goal on a goalie since March 15. He scored two goals following that goal in the regular season, but both were empty net goals.
Abbotsford then took over the rest of the third period and has several glorious chances to take the lead. However, Hellberg continued to turn aside all those opportunities. Abbotsford out shot Texas 12-9 in the third and the 1-1 tie after 60 minutes sent the game to overtime for the third time in the series.
The unfortunate bounce then sealed Abbotsford's fate and extended the series.
Abbotsford's Linus Karlsson recorded a team-high seven shots, but was held off the score sheet for the first time in five games. Bains also had five shot and Max Sasson fired four. Sasson is one player that Abbotsford needs to contribute offensively, as the forward hasn't scored a goal in seven games and has just two points in this series. He has just three goals in 17 playoff games and has a shooting percentage of 5.7 in the playoffs.
Friday featured the return of forward Sammy Blais to the Abbotsford lineup after missing game four and he finished with zero shots and was a -1. Forward Jonathan Lekkerimaki was scratched for the second straight game. Danila Klimovich, the game four overtime hero, recorded one shot on goal.
Despite the setback, Abbotsford maintains a 3-2 series lead and is still one win away from qualifying for the Caldr Cup Finals. The loss means the series returns to the Abbotsford Centre for game six on Sunday (June 8). Game seven, if necessary, also occurs in Abbosford on Monday (June 9).
The winner of the Abbotsford-Texas series will then travel to North Carolina to take on the Eastern Conference champion Charlotte Checkers. Game one for that series is scheduled for Friday, June 13.
