| (Posted
9:30 a.m., Mar. 15) Grads
drop playoff opener to Kanata
By Fred Sherwin
Orleans Online It
was pay back time at the Navan Arena Sunday night as the Kanata Stallions took
Game 1 of their opening round series against the Cumberland Grads, avenging their
being swept at the hands of the Grads in last year's quarterfinals. The
Grads came out of the gate a little tight, giving up several turnovers and a pair
of odd man rushes to a fired up Stallions team that came ready to play. Grads'
goalie Christian Boucher looked solid in nets early on, turning away everything
Kanata threw at him. The constant pressure from the Stallions, however, would
eventually lead to their first goal of the game which came off the stick of Grads'
defenceman Brent Patry. The
veteran defenceman tried to send a dump in shot around the back of the net, but
inadvertently put it behind Boucher who was looking the other way. The
Stallions would go up 2-0 after Charles Boyer was sent off for interference at
the 7:34 mark of the first period. It took the Stallions all of six seconds to
capitalize on the man advantage with Chris Trafford scoring on the short side. The
Grads' offense in the first period was ineffectual for the most part. Of the 13
shots they managed to direct toward the Kanata goal only two could be described
as bona fide scoring chances. During
their first power play opportunity midway through the period they had trouble
developing any sustained pressure, managing only one shot on net from outside
the blueline. After
gathering themselves during the intermission, the Grads came out with a renewed
purpose in the second period. A
penalty to the Stallions five minutes into the period, would lead to Cumberland's
first goal of the game by Craig Baxter who beat Kanata goalie Doug Jewer high
to the glove side. The
Stallions would come right back, scoring 21 seconds later to regain the two goal
lead. After
Kanata's Sean Roche took an undisciplined cross-checking penalty 12 seconds later,
Mathew Pierce would score the Grads' second power play marker of the game seven
seconds into the man advantage to put the home team up 3-2. The
score could have easily been tied or a goal in Cumberland's favour by the 10 minute
mark if not for several spectacular glove saves by Jewer. The
Grads would eventually get the equalizer after yet another penalty call against
Kanata. After Adam Purdy was assessed a two minute minor and a game misconduct
for checking Jonathan Matsumoto from behind, Jason Murfitt scored off a textbook
backdoor play set up by Pierce with 3:01 left in the period. With
neither team anxious to make a mistake in the third period, the game settled into
a tight checking affair. Both teams' goalies would be called upon to make a big
save to preserve the tie thought the middle part of the period. Boucher
would thwart Roman Srutek with a sliding pad save at the eight minute mark, while
Jewer had to be sharp on a quick shot from Sean Grady he never saw coming just
over a minute later. It
would be the Stallions who would eventually break the deadlock when Matt Pierce
scored off a giveaway deep in the Grads' end to give Kanata the 4-3 victory. The
win was sweet revenge for the Stallions who have not forgotten last year's quick
exit from the playoffs. "It
was there. It was something we fed off along with the success we had against them
earlier in the season," Stallions' captain Matt Pierce said after the game.
"We've battled them pretty good all year." For
the Grads, they must put Sunday's result in the back of their minds as quickly
as possible. After a practice Monday night they travel to Kanata for back-to-back
games Tuesday and Wednesday. "The
guys played a nervous game in the first period. They wanted to do everything just
right, but sometimes you can be too intense which is what happened LY394C0fjMJX3C4D92VebWr+sfXsce/ba0doM/
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