Yesterday in the car, Sirius XM The Highway played Brad Paisley’s song Last Time for Everything. It turned out to be an omen.
After 7 years and hundreds of games, it all came to an end late on a Friday night.
Tuesday: Add another junior player to the roster: defenseman Colby Sissons joined the team after his season with Swift Current (WHL) ended.
The series moved north of the border to Toronto on Wednesday, as both teams looked to go up 2-1 in the best of five. Mackenzie Blackwood was back between the pipes looking for redemption, while Jan Mandat and Blake Speers were in for the injured Joe Blandisi and Miles Wood. Scott Wedgewood was cleared and would serve as backup in place of Ken Appleby.
Brendan Leipsic would strike first 3:49 into the opening frame with his first of the postseason for a 1-0 Toronto lead. John Quenneville would match that with his third straight goal of the series, on the Devils’ first power play of the night, less than seven minutes later. In the second, Leipsic would strike a second time with 2:01 remaining for a 2-1 Marlies lead. That lead would last all of 23 seconds…Carter Camper would score his first of the postseason to re-tie the game up at 2. After a scoreless third that saw both teams fail to capitalize on power play chances, it was on to overtime. And 45 seconds in, Colin Greening would end it with the first shot, giving the Marlies the 2-1 edge in the series and putting Albany on the brink. Blackwood rebounded nicely from Game 2’s disaster despite taking the loss, stopping 22 of 25 shots. Four different Devils would have one assist each.
Lines:
Ben Sexton-Carter Camper-Blake Pietila
John Quenneville-Blake Coleman-Nick Lappin
Brian Gibbons-Kevin Rooney-Blake Speers
Ben Thomson-Rod Pelley-Jan Mandat
Defense:
Seth Helgeson/Steve Santini
Josh Jacobs/Viktor Loov
Karl Stollery/Vojtech Mozik
Mackenzie Blackwood/Scott Wedgewood
Scratches: Joe Blandisi, Max Novak, Luke Gazdic, Ryan Kujawinski, Shane Harper, Miles Wood, Petr Straka, Brandon Gignac, Austin Cangelosi, Andrew MacWilliam, Yohann Auvitu, Colton White, Colby Sissons, Jacob MacDonald, Evan Cormier, Ken Appleby
Power Play: 1 for 4. Penalty Kill: 2 for 2. Penalty Minutes: 8. Shots on Goal: 29. Shots Allowed: 25.
3 Stars: 1. Colin Greening; 2. Brendan Leipsic; 3. Kasperi Kapanen.
Highlight Reel:
Friday night’s mission for Game 4 was a simple one: Win, and play Saturday. Lose, and it’s all over.
One lineup change: Karl Stollery out, Jacob MacDonald in. Mackenzie Blackwood back between the pipes.
In the first, it was all Toronto, as they outshot the Devils 11-4 and went up 1-0 8:55 in on a Travis Dermott goal. Albany would have to kill off an early penalty in the second, but managed to tie the game up at 1 late in the second on Carter Camper’s second goal of the playoffs. After that, the rookie goalies–Blackwood and Toronto’s Kasimir Kaskikuo–would take over, mostly Blackwood. While the Devils were only able to manage 17 shots against through regulation, Blackwood was practically standing on his head, stopping 40 of 41 shots through the first 60 minutes. In the first overtime, the Devils would finally outshoot the Marlies by a 10-8 margin, but blew a chance at a win by not producing on a 4 minute power play. On to the second overtime, where the Marlies managed 6 shots to the Devils’ 4, but Albany was able to kill off a Ben Thomson penalty to stay alive. Then came the third overtime, where 6:43 in, and on Toronto’s 60th shot of the night, Justin Holl would connect and get the series clincher, sending the Marlies to the second round and Albany into extinction.
In his last start of the season, Blackwood was absolutely amazing. Despite a very hard loss, he stopped 58 of 60 shots, and was singlehandedly the reason Albany was able to extend their run by 46 more minutes. John Quenneville and Ben Sexton had the lone helpers.
Lines:
Ben Sexton-Carter Camper-Blake Pietila
John Quenneville-Blake Coleman-Nick Lappin
Brian Gibbons-Kevin Rooney-Blake Speers
Ben Thomson-Rod Pelley-Jan Mandat
Defense:
Seth Helgeson/Steve Santini
Josh Jacobs/Viktor Loov
Jacob MacDonald/Vojtech Mozik
Mackenzie Blackwood/Scott Wedgewood
Scratches: Ken Appleby, Andrew MacWilliam, Joe Blandisi, Max Novak, Luke Gazdic, Ryan Kujawinski, Karl Stollery, Shane Harper, Miles Wood, Petr Straka, Yohann Auvitu, Colby Sissons, Brandon Gignac, Evan Cormier, Austin Cangelosi, Colton White
Power Play: 0 for 3. Penalty Kill: 2 for 2. Penalty Minutes: 4. Shots on Goal: 31. Shots Allowed: 60.
3 Stars: 1. Justin Holl; 2. Mackenzie Blackwood; 3. Kasimir Kaskikuo.
Highlight Reel:
Around the Playoffs:
Let’s check in on the rest of the Calder Cup field:
Much like Albany, St. John’s is also extinct. A tying goal by former Devil Stefan Matteau forced overtime in the IceCaps Game 4 matchup against the Crunch on Friday, but Gabriel Dumont would get the game winner, setting up a Syracuse-Toronto North Division final beginning on Friday night in central New York.
Wilkes-Barre and Lehigh Valley, the top two teams in the Atlantic Division, both find themselves on the brink. Hershey could wrap up the series with the Phantoms on Saturday night with a win in Game 4 (if needed Game 5 would be in Allentown on Sunday afternoon), while the Penguins and Bruins will play Game 5 in Wilkes-Barre Township on Sunday after Providence took Game 4 on Friday night.
The Central Division final is set: Chicago defeated Charlotte in 5 games, while Grand Rapids swept Milwaukee. The Wolves and Griffins start their series on Wednesday in Chicago.
In the Pacific, San Jose is up 2-1 on Stockton, and can wrap the series up with a win on Sunday on the road (Game 5 if needed is Tuesday in San Jose). San Diego is up 2-1 against Ontario, and they can advance with a win against the Reign on Monday (Game 5 would also be Tuesday).
Up North with the Thunder:
Sadly, the season has come to an end for Adirondack, as they dropped Game 6 6-5 to Manchester in overtime on Tuesday night, dropping the series 4 games to 2. The Thunder would fall behind 5-4 in the 3rd period, only to have Patch Alber tie the game up with 2:34 left in regulation to force overtime, extending the season by about 3 minutes. Dennis Kravchenko scored twice and finished one assist shy of a Gordie Howe hat trick, Ryan Culkin would have 3 assists, and Brandon Baddock would get his first point of the postseason with a second period assist on Brian Ward’s goal. J.P. Anderson would stop 37 of 43 Monarch shots. Forward Brett Pollock and defenseman Keegan Kanzig have joined Stockton for the remainder of the Heat’s playoff run.
What’s Next?
Well…there’s still some Year in Review business to take care of, look for that next week. After that…stay tuned, I guess.
Thoughts Inside The Box 