Ice Wins Series Opener
April 25, 2014 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Indiana Ice News Release
This game had the makings of a bad night at Pan Am Pavilion when the Indiana Ice faced off with the Dubuque Fighting Saints in game one of the Eastern Conference Finals. Despite the rough start, the hosts went on to grind out a 4-1 victory to gain a 1-0 advantage in the best-of-five series.
After Indy goaltender Jason Pawloski pitched a pair of shutouts on the road to close out the Green Bay Gamblers to win their first round series, the Fighting Saints scored first 1:49 after the opening puck drop on a goal by Robby Darrar.
Less than three minutes later, the Ice had a goal waived off when the officials ruled that Aiden Muir's touched the puck with his stick above the shoulder.
Jacob Prichard eventually did score a game-tying goal at 14:54 with Indiana skating on the power play.
"I came around the slot and Austin Kosak made a great pass to me," commented Pritchard after also receiving an assist from Josh Jacobs.
The frustration continued early into the middle stanza, when yet another apparent score was disallowed when the referee ruled incidental contact with Saints netminder Kevin Reich.
A head contact penalty on visitor's Shane Eiserman at 18:12 once again set up Indy's second powerplay opportunity. They cashed in 17 seconds later with the game-winning goal by Scott Conway. The scoring sequence was set up by passes from Brian Pinho and Patrick Newell.
Conway beat Reich through the 5-hole 1:31 before the end of the second period.
Brian Pinho made it a two-goal cushion when he put home a pinpoint pass from Pritchard while standing on the doorstep of Reich's crease. Ryan Mantha earned an assist at Indiana increase the lead to 3-2 at 5:08 of the third period.
Denis Smirnov, the hero and goalscorer of both Ice 1-0 victories in Green Bay, added insurance when he made the Fighting Saints pay for a turnover at center ice with his third goal of the Clark Cup playoffs.
After Dubuque scored their goal less than two minutes into the contest, Palowski shut the door the rest of the way with a 21-save effort.
"After their first goal, I just had to shake it off," stated Pawolski. "We played great and we were keeping shots to a minimum."
The teams play game two Saturday at Pan Am Pavilion. The puck drops at 7:05 pm.
United States Hockey League Stories from April 25, 2014
- Ice Wins Series Opener - Indiana Ice
- Hawks Win Series Opener - Waterloo Black Hawks
- Ice Score Four Straight to Take Game 1 Friday Night - Dubuque Fighting Saints
- Tyler Johnson Added to 2014 U.S. Men's National Team - U.S. National Team
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