Juha Toivonen returns to earn a shutout for his sixth consecutive playoff winThe Odessa Jackalopes tied up the Southern Conference Championship series tonight with a 2-0 win in front of a sparse weeknight crowd at the Ector County Coliseum. The victory ensures a game six back on home ice for the Jacks, who travel will North to the NYTEX Sports Centre for game five on Saturday night.
Brahmas goaltender Brett Jaeger entered the game with the best stats of any playoff goalie with a 1.76 GAA and a .941 save percentage and had earned a 3-1 shutout on Tuesday night but it was Juha Toivonen who earned the shutout tonight with a tremendous performance in net.
"I thought it was a battle," Jackalopes coach Paul Gillis told the Odessa American. "I don't think either team had as much jump as we've had in the first couple games, but it was certainly a territorial battle tonight. I liked the way we played and when it came to the third period, I think everyone thought whoever got that goal was going to be in the driver's seat. We were fortunate to get that goal and hang on; Juha then made a huge save to maintain the win."
The first period was a tale of special teams as both squads were called for multiple penalties. The Brahmas had two early man-advantage opportunities but were stopped by the Jacks' penalty-killers. The Jacks got their first power play opportunity at the 7:34 mark after Greg McConnell was called for high sticking, but they were unable to capitalize against the Brahmas, who had stopped them 19 consecutive times in the series coming into the game.
Dominic Leveille got a little too close to Brett Jaeger after the Brahmas netminder covered the puck on a save and was dropped by Texas defenseman Mike Vellinga. Brian Swiniarski took notice and both he and Vellinga ended up in the sin bin on matching roughing minors. The Jacks had their best scoring opportunity seconds later, sending a flurry of shot attempts at Jaeger, but were unable to find the back of the net. At the end of the first 20 minutes, each team would go 0 for 3 on the power play. The Jacks looked much more energetic than they did in the last game, but the shot count was low at 8-7 with Odessa outshooting the Brahmas. The game was scoreless after one.
The second period was full of action as both teams had several scoring opportunities but neither squad could solve the backstoppers as Brett Jaeger and Juha Toivonen were absolutely solid in net. The play became more physical with a lot of extra shots and interfering taking place behind plays but referee Mark Lemelin was more conservative on the penalty calling than in the first frame, calling only four minors. Odessa led the shot count again at 11-7 in the middle frame and 19-14 through 40 scoreless minutes. Both teams went 0 for 1 on power play opportunities.
The Jackalopes finally solved the riddle of Jaeger with a score at the 2:26 mark of the third period. It was the first goal that Jaeger had allowed since the 19:38 mark of the second period of Game 2, a stretch of 123 minutes, eight seconds with the Brahmas netminder stopping 94 of the previous 95 shots. Paul Kelly, set up by Jeff Pierce and Dave Van Drunen, sent a wrister into the net, beating Jaeger and taking the 1-0 lead.
"I kind of cut around a guy and their big defenseman was in the way, so I shot it because I thought he was going to block it," Kelly told the Odessa American. "I couldn't see it and then I saw the puck rolling back to me and everyone jumping around. We knew going down 3-1 in the series would be a tough hole to dig out of. But in the third period we just stuck to our game plan; we've been outshooting them and we were due to get a break"
The action continued with the Jackalopes playing their best hockey of the night, motivated by the score by Pierce. The Brahmas were left to contend with a red hot Toivonen, who has been stellar in the playoffs with five wins coming into the game.
The Brahmas' penalty killers went back to work after the Jacks earned a prolonged five-on-three opportunity due to three consecutive Texas penalties. They were successful in preventing another score but the effort ate up a lot of time.
The Brahmas had a chance to tie the game up with 2:36 minutes left in the game but Tyler Skworchinski's breakaway coming out of the penalty box was stymied by Toivonen, who stopped the ensuing shot with a kick of his right pad. The Odessa netminder would rob the Brahmas of what would be their final scoring chance chance one minute later when he stopped all-star defenseman Justin Kinnunen's shot from the upper right corner with a reaching glove save.
Jaeger was pulled with a minute left in favor of the extra attacker. Odessa's Brian Swiniarski nearly sent the puck into the empty net with :48 left, missing by inches. Swiniarski was successful on his second attempt, backhanding a pass from Jean Bourbeau across the ice and into the net to make it a 2-0 game. Jaeger remained on the bench for the final 31 seconds, but the Brahmas were unable to score and the game ended with the Jackalopes earning a much-needed victory to keep the series alive for at least two more games.
Juha Toivonen earned his sixth consecutive playoff win, tying Brett Jaeger in the playoffs, stopping all 18 shots tonight.
Brett Jaeger accepted his second post-season loss, stopping 31 of 32 shots. He retains the best stats of any goalie for the four remaining teams with a 1.66 GAA and a .945 save percentage.
The Brahmas were assessed 20 minutes on 10 infractions. Odessa received 14 minutes on seven infractions. The Brahmas went 0 for 5 on the power play. Odessa went 0 for 8. Odessa has gone without a power play goal in 21 consecutive chances during the series. The Brahmas maintain the best penalty kill of the four remaining teams at 90.91%.
Brett Jaeger received the 3rd star with his 31 saves on the night. Paul Kelly was awarded the 2nd star for his game-winning goal and Juha Toivonen earned the 1st star for his outstanding performance in net.
You can view the box score here
The Brahmas will return home tonight to rest up and get prepared for Saturday night's game five at the NYTEX Sports Centre.
Game Five will be aired on Metro Sports Channel 185 on Time Warner Cable. For schedule information, check here
Photo Credit: Robert Keith
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