Fighting Falcons Take 2-0 Lead in First Round Series
April 7, 2014 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Port Huron Fighting Falcons News Release
PORT HURON, MI -ÃÂ The Port Huron Fighting Falcons, proud members of the North American Hockey League, and 2014 North Division champions, began their quest for the Robertson Cup with a pair of wins over the Johnstown Tomahawks at McMorran Arena. The Fighting Falcons take their 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series on the road to Johnstown this weekend.
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The Fighting Falcons earned a 3-2 win over the Tomahawks in the first game of the 2014 Robertson Cup Playoffs Thursday at McMorran Arena. In a thrilling comeback, Port Huron took a 4-3 overtime win Friday night to take command of the series.
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Bryce VanHorn scored a pair of first-period goals Thursday to give the Fighting Falcons an early lead, but the Tomahawks scored twice in a 22 second stretch later in the first to tie the game. A scoreless second period gave led to Jon Hall's goal early in the third period to give Port Huron a 3-2 lead.
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Max Milosek and the Fighting Falcons defense protected the 3-2 lead from there, allowing the Tomahawks to get just three shots on net in the third period. The Fighting Falcons out-shot the Tomahawks 35-21 overall in their game one victory.
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Logan Lambdin, Zach Badalamenti, Jonathan Kopcaka, Nick Horne and Elliott Tisdale recorded assists for Port Huron. Milosek made 19 saves for his ninth career playoff win.
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Tanner Barnes and Jordan Watt scored Johnstown's goals, with assists to Joe Drabin and Brandon Reinholz. Brett Young stopped 32 shots in his playoff debut.
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In a wild game two, the Fighting Falcons overcame a two-goal deficit in the third period in a 4-3 overtime thriller.
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The physical game featured more first-period penalty minutes (29) than the entirety of Thursday's game (26), and ultimately ended scoreless.
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The second period took nearly an hour, as the teams combined for 52 penalty minutes and seemed to get involved in scrums after nearly every whistle. Fighting Falcons forward Niko Coffman was taken down from behind and hit the boards head first. Paramedics were called in as Coffman lay knocked out and motionless for several minutes. The defenseman ultimately left the ice under his own power, and concussion tests came back negative.
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The Tomahawks held a 2-0 lead until late in the second period, when Noah Batis cut the lead in half with under a minute to play. Johnstown regained their two-goal lead early in the third period, but the Fighting Falcons lit the lamp on two of their 16 shots to tie the game.
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Lucas Little's first career NAHL goal near the midway point of the third period cut the lead to 3-2, and Elliott Tisdale's first goal since joining the Fighting Falcons at the trade deadline tied it with less than seven minutes to play.
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The game headed to overtime for just the third time in Fighting Falcons franchise history. Like last year's deciding game three in the first round of the playoffs against the Tomahawks, the Fighting Falcons would prevail, as Tisdale's second goal of the night ended the game 9:31 into the extra frame.
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Alex Blankenburg earned his first career playoff victory, stopping 33 of 36 Tomahawks shots. Brett Young fell for the second time in as many nights, but made a Tomahawks franchise-record 48 saves in the game.
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Lucas Little had a pair of assists in a three-point night, while Bryan Yim, Jonathan Kopacka, Zach Badalamenti and Alex Archibald each added one assist apiece.
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Jordan Watt, Brandon Reinholz and Trevor Recktenwald scored for the Tomahawks, who need a win in Friday's game three to stay alive in the best-of-five series.
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The balanced attack that led to the North Division's regular-season crown was prevalent in Port Huron's wins to open the playoffs, as 11 players recorded at least one point, and all seven goals came from newcomers, with rookies scoring five of the seven.
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The 52 shots Port Huron fired on net Friday was their highest mark of the season, and just five shy of Johnstown's two-game total.
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The series now shifts to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, where these teams will face off Friday in game three, and, if necessary, Saturday in game four. The Fighting Falcons went 3-1-2 in six games in Johnstown during the regular season, but have not played there since November 23.
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If necessary, game five would take place Monday, April 14 at 7 p.m. at McMorran Arena. If the Fighting Falcons win Friday or Saturday in Johnstown, they would advance to the next round of the playoffs, hosting the winner of Michigan and Janesville's series in games one and two.
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The Michigan Warriors took a 2-0 lead in their series against the Janesville Jets with a 4-2 win Friday and a 5-1 win Saturday. The Warriors won just one of four games in Janesville during the regular season, and the teams split a weekend series played there in mid-March.
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The Fighting Falcons will play at least one more home game at McMorran Arena, though it is unclear at this point whether that will be game five against the Johnstown Tomahawks, or games one and two against the winner of the other North Division playoff matchup. Tickets are available at the McMorran Arena Box Office, starting at just $8 for seniors, students and military. For more information, contact the front office at (810) 966-3800.
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