Round 2 of the Western USPHL Premier playoffs is complete. Here’s a look at how things unfolded in the Pacific Division.
(2) LAS VEGAS T-BIRDS AT (1) FRESNO MONSTERS
Game 1
Unsurprisingly, the first period of this game and series was a feeling-out period. Las Vegas would open the series scoring just five minutes into the first period, with Las Vegas winning an offensive zone faceoff and Trystan-Félix Tremblay burying a loose puck in front of the net to give the T-Birds the 1-0 lead. A few minutes later Noak Persson would carry the puck into the zone, pass it to Chris Miraldo, and Miraldo would make no mistake, putting the puck past Sam Peterson to tie the game.
Half way through the 2nd period, Las Vegas got itself into penalty trouble, and Fresno’s Captain, Jacob Gagnon, would capitalize and put one in from the blueline, putting the Monsters up a goal. Just a few minutes later, Gagnon would make a beautiful play to get it into the zone and saucer a pass over to Alonso Tapia who buries it for the 3-1 lead. Then selfish and undisciplined penalties started to put the Monsters down, including a 5-on-3 that T-Birds forward Tremblay would capitalize on for his second of the game. This goal pulled Las Vegas within one, and all the while a Red Hot Chili Peppers hit began playing loudly in this author’s head.
Action continued to heat-up entering the 3rd period, as urgency started to kick in. Nearly seven minutes in, Miraldo would put the Monsters back up by two. But Fresno would continue to utilize it’s apparent timeshare in the penalty box, and it eventually caught up with them, as with just over 5 minutes remaining in the 3rd period, Tremblay got the hattrick goal on the powerplay opportunity to pull Las Vegas back within one. Just a couple minutes later, Las Vegas is forced to pull the goalie and it worked out, as they tie the game with just over 90 seconds remaining, forcing overtime. It only took 3 minutes 20 seconds of overtime for Tremblay to get his 4th of the game, tapping a shot in on a pass from Gavin Frack.
Game 2
It took less than 3 minutes into Game 2 for the scoring to take off, as Fresno forward Chris Miraldo would take a pass and bury a backhand by T-Birds goaltender Loic Morin for the quick 1-0 lead. But Las Vegas would Immediately respond off the draw, as the T-Birds would break in on a 2-on-1 and score a beaut off a nice setup pass by Antoine Tourigny to the stick of Frédéric Pinel. Minutes later Vegas would score an almost mirror-like goal as Justin Freeman would set up Tristan Nelson in the same manner and leave Ethan Jourden searching for far more support. The T-Birds continued having all the momentum and applied pressure in their offensive zone, and Loic Gosselin blasts one in and it’s tipped in by Kevin Hanly for a 3-1 lead. With 16.3 seconds left, Miraldo would score his 2nd of the game on a powerplay and pull the Monsters back within one.
Most of the 2nd period was exciting back-and-forth action, but again Fresno was unable to keep itself out of the box, and with just over 6 minutes remaining in the 2nd, a tripping call put Las Vegas on the powerplay and Tremblay would put the T-Birds back up by two. Immediately thereafter though, Las Vegas would also be called on a penalty, and the Monsters would respond right back with a goal by Persson. It would only be minutes later that Daniel Cuellar-Tellez would tip another shot past Morin and the game was tied at 4-4. But again, Fresno would utilize it’s penalty box timeshare, and again the T-Birds would capitalize. Narek Aleksanayan would score just seconds after the penalty expired and only 4.5 seconds remaining in the period. A heartbreaking goal for Fresno. The 3rd period was full of action but ultimately no goals were scored. Las Vegas is crowned the Pacific Division Champions and advance onto Nationals.
Pigeonhole Hockey Podcast 3 Stars of Series:
1: (C) Trystan-Félix Tremblay, 04-Bécancour, Quebec (LV)
2: (F) Antoine Tourigny, 04-Victoriaville, Quebec (LV)
3. (D) Kelly Coldwater, 04-St. Louis, Missouri (FM)
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Author: CD, Host, Pigeonhole Hockey Podcast
Image courtesy: @ggerster on Instagram
