Game 1 Of Playoff Series Vs. Peoria
By Bill Vilona
Ice Flyers Correspondent
The Ice Flyers played the style they wanted, the effort they needed and got exceptional goaltending to be on verge of a stunning, playoff opening upset.
All of this, only to absorb a gut-punch with just 70 seconds left in the first, sudden-death overtime.
Peoria winger, Cayden Cahill, gained a fortuitous bounce off the boards, leading to a breakaway that he finished with a wrist flick into the net that gave the Rivermen a 3-2 victory in the delayed Game 1 of this quarterfinal series at the Pensacola Bay Center.
The game featured a combined 91 shots on goal and standout play from both teams’ goaltenders the entire game. That made the ending even more difficult for the Ice Flyers for their hopes in this short series.
“We talked before the game that the effort was the most important thing,” said Ice Flyers coach, Gary Graham. “When you go into the playoffs, I’ve always told my playoff teams this: You really want to look yourself in the mirror and know as a man that you gave everything you could.
“And I thought the guys did that (Thursday). The game is about bounces and you need a little bit of luck sometimes. I looked down and was getting ready to make a line change and I looked up and I didn’t see where the puck was at and I see two (Peoria) guys behind every one of ours.
“I’ve never seen that in overtime. They made us pay.”
More rough luck hit the Ice Flyers after Ivan Bondarenko tied the game less than three minutes into the second period. He later got hurt off a check and couldn’t play again.
“He was buzzing,” Graham said. “He was the best player on the ice until he got hurt and we lost him for basically two periods. And that hurt. He’s a big part of our team. But the guys still continued to work hard and gave the effort…
Earlier this week, tall and physical centerman Sean Gulka was hurt in practice.
“It has just been one of these weird couple weeks with guys dropping like flies,” Graham said. “But as long as the guys are giving a 100-percent and they are, we have a chance.”
Both teams left immediately after showering and dressing for an all-night, all Friday morning, 14-plus hour bus trip to Peoria, Illinois where the Ice Flyers will seek to keep their season alive on Saturday night in the second game.