Barracudas five second period goals down Manatees
Published on April 7, 2004 under SPHL (SPHL)
Miami Manatees News Release
Jacksonville â Tom Perry scored the first hat-trick in WHA2 playoff history, but it wasn't enough as the Barracudas forced a game three by scoring five goals in the second period to down the Manatees by the final score of 5-3.
The Manatees got their first power-play opportunity at 3:42 of the first period when Steve McIntyre got a roughing call deep in his zone. With a minute left in the power-play, Kevin Swider carried the puck in on the right side and feathered a pass to the center of the circles. Tom Perry grabbed the puck and quickly shot the puck past Hevey at 4:42.
Penalty trouble plagued the Manatees after they scored, when the Cudas were given a 1:16 5-3 power-play opportunity when Steve Howard was sent off for Holding and Dan Donnette got called for the hi-stick. On the ensuing power-play, the Cudas had several prime scoring chances, but Rooney held them off.
With :20 seconds left in the 5-4 power-play, the teams exchanged fisticuffs as Darren Cain and Lyle Steenbergen faced off against each other. After Cain got Steenbergen to the ice, there was a brief delay as the refs sorted out the penalties. Unfortunately for the Manatees, Darren Cain was assessed a game misconduct while Lyle Steenbergen just got five for fighting. Liam McCarthy and Jamie Miller also ended up with two minutes apiece for roughing.
The Manatees got into more penalty trouble after they killed the 5-3 when Garrett Dionne got called for interference at 11:53. The Manatees killed off that penalty too, getting into some chippy play down low as Liam McCarthy and Jay McCabe traded blows down low in the Manatees zone.
With 1:28 left in the first period, last night's hero had an excellent opportunity to put the Manatees up by two. Chad Cabana forced a turnover at center-ice and went in alone into the Cuda's zone, but Hevey made a strong save to keep the score 1-0. The period ended with the Cuda's out-shooting the Manatees by a 15-5 margin.
The Manatees came out in the second chomping at the bit as Perry scored his second of the game just :34 into the period. Donnette found the puck at his feet, and with pressure slipped it to Perry whose shot from the between the circles just crept past Hevey for the 2-0 lead.
The Cudas got within one when Rob Bonneau carried the puck into the offensive zone and let loose a strong shot that eluded Al Rooney and found the back of the net. Rooney faced 17 shots before giving up the goal.
Mark Phenow gave the Manatees a five-minute power-play when he was assessed the major for boarding Cabana at 5:49 of the second. With Perry and Baker in the box for a previous coincidental slashing penalty, the Manatees enjoyed a brief 5-4 PP until Steve McIntyre cross-checked Josh Liebenow into the net, drawing the penalty and giving the Manatees a 5-3 power-play for two minutes.
Randy Hevey made some excellent point blank saves as the Manatees swarmed around the net, denying several scoring opportunities until the penalty came to a close. As Baker came out of the box, he was given a long pass up the ice and he sprang in alone on Rooney, but was denied when the two on one chance failed to materialize.
But the Cudas had the momentum their way when Swider got called for slashing and gave the Cudas the power-play. Jamie Miller got his second goal of the playoffs when he put the puck past Rooney from the low slot at 11:38 of the second period, tying the game up at two goals apiece.
The game didn't remain tied for long when the Cudas capitalized on their second consecutive power-play chance in a row. Jay McCabe's shot was stopped by Rooney, but the second effort was put into the net to give the Cudas their first lead of the series at 14:00.
The score didn't remain as such for long when McCabe deflected a point shot from Jamie Miller past Rooney just 2:27 later to pull the Cudas up by two, and it appeared that the teams were going to head to the dressing rooms, but Mike Wirll got behind a defenseman and broke in alone in on Rooney and beat him high with only 10 seconds left in the second period.
The Barracudas scored five unanswered goals in the second period, unleashing 20 shots on Rooney while killing off several penalties. The Manatees just managed 10 shots on goal in the second period as the Cudas ended the period with a 5-2 advantage.
The Cudas came out strong in the third period, getting a breakaway opportunity by Miller which drew a tripping penalty on Steve Howard at 2:34, but the Manatees killed it off to stay in the game.
The playoff emotions started to run high as McIntyre took exception to the Manatees tough play and proceeded to go high with an elbow on Steve Howard long after he passed the puck away. McIntyre only got two minutes for the blatant late elbow, so Cabana valiantly took the 6-6 McIntyre to task and dropped the gloves. Unfortunately, Cabana got the game misconduct and was tossed from the game for instigating the fight.
But some momentum went to the Manatees and Perry got his third goal of the game on the ensuing power-play when he snuck in from the point and one-timed the pass from Darcy Johnson to pull the Manatees within two at 9:39 of the third period.
Another excellent opportunity presented itself to the Manatees when Mark Phenow got tossed from the game for his second five-minute major when he cross-checked Swider behind the Jacksonville net at 12:08.
The advantage was short-lived though when Trevor Socholotuk got called for holding when Jacksonville came back on a two-on-two play. The penalty created an 4-4 situation for two minutes in which neither team was able to score, and the Manatees couldn't convert on the 41 second power-play at the end of the Phenow misconduct.
With Rooney pulled for the final minute of the game, the Manatees pelted Hevey with several more shots but the Manatees were unable to score as time expired. Overall, the Manatees out-shot the Cudas 23-9 in the third period.
Randy Hevey made 35 saves in his first appearance in the playoffs, while Rooney stopped 39 shots in the loss.
The Manatees meet the Barracudas for the deciding game three in the series Thursday night at 7:05pm.
SPHL Stories from April 7, 2004
- Trax shock Alabama in opener - Alabama Slammers
- Trax slam Alabama in opener - Macon Trax
- Barracudas five second period goals down Manatees - Miami Manatees
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