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Second Period Surge Propels Wildcats to Game 1 Victory

April 15, 2016 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Wichita Falls Wildcats News Release


The Wildcats opened the 2016 Robertson Cup Playoffs in unorthodox fashion, falling behind 3-0 in the first period and scoring six unanswered goals to take Game 1 of the South Division Semi-Finals.

After 17 scoreless and evenly played minutes in the first period. Lightning struck thrice in 80 seconds for the Jackalopes. Brandon Tucker smashed a rebound past Justin Kapelmaster, who steered aside Jon Russell's initial shot with his right pad. Seventeen seconds later, Pierce Pluemer took advantage of some space in the Wildcats' zone and ripped a shot from the slot past a bewildered Kapelmaster and into the net to double the Jacks' lead and stun the KYC crowd.

Just a minute later, in an effort to ignite a response, Domantas Cypas pinched into the play a bit dangerously and left his defensive partner Jeff Baum on his own to defend a 3-on-1 rush. Zach Zech utilized his teammates as decoys to keep Baum in check, and fired a shot through Kapelmaster's five-hole to score Odessa's third goal in 80 seconds. The Wildcats would enter the first intermission with a mountain to climb.

The Wildcats did more than just climb the mountain in the following period. With the words of John LaFontaine and Josh Nelson ringing in their ears, the Cats came out firing on all cylinders on a brief power play. Jeff Baum unloaded from the blue line through a screen, and gave his team some life just 26 seconds into the middle frame. It took a while for the Cats to pick up where they left off, but they continued to chip away at the Jacks' lead.

Jonny Lazarus backhanded a shot past Dean Shatzer after being set up nicely in the blue paint by Austin Albrecht to make it 3-2. Just over a minute later, Nikita Litviak snuck the puck in from a severe angle by slipping the puck through Shatzer's pads to tie the contest. On the Cats' second power play, Aleksi Poikola buried a rebound past Shatzer to give Wichita Falls its first lead of the game, improving the Wildcats' power play to 2/2 on the night. The Jackalopes finally pulled themselves together and went to work on their third power play, but Baum intercepted the puck, hauled it down the left wing, and blasted a shot which had so much velocity that it ripped a hole in the net. After scoring five unanswered goals, the Cats went into the second intermission with a 5-3 lead and an invigorated KYC crowd.

Knowing the Jackalopes' ability to score goals in bunches, the Wildcats knew they couldn't be complacent with their 5-3 lead in the third period. They extended their power play streak to three after André Pison sniped a shot from the left circle high on Shatzer, ending the Dartmouth commit's night in goal. Jon Flakne replaced him to try and so some damage control, but it was too little, too late. Kapelmaster and the Wildcats clamped things down and secured a 6-3 victory to go up 1-0 in the series.

Kapelmaster bounced back to stop 34 of 37 shots to win his first playoff game as a Wildcat. Flakne stopped six of six in relief, but Shatzer was charged with the defeat, denying 30 of 36 attempts. The Wildcats host the Jackalopes on Saturday, April 16th at 7:05 pm for Game 2 of the South Division Semi-Finals.

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