Four goals in the final five minutes of last night’s Game 2 lifted Colorado to a 5-2 victory over Chicago, but the Hawks know they’ve come close to falling into an 0-2 series deficit on the road.
‘We haven’t gotten to this point yet because we’re a lucky team,’ Colorado head coach Mark Lightstu explain. “It’s because we’re a good team. These guys believe they’re a good team.”
With the Wolves leading 2-1, Colorado tied the game at 15:00 of the third period. Jacob McDonald (1-1-2) scored his first playoff goal.
chicago Nikita Pavlichev Then received a high-stick penalty in the ensuing mid-ice confrontation, and TJ Hughes (4-5-9) scored with 4:08 left in the game to give Colorado a 3-2 lead. Jason Paulin (1-5-6) and Ivan Ivan (2-9-11) An empty-net goal scored to complete the scoring.
The Wolves didn’t have a shot on goal in more than 26 minutes; their only shot in the entire third period was Ronan Seeley 52.5 seconds left.
‘It’s not just the last five minutes,’ says a candid Wolves manager Spiros Anastas Said after being disappointed. “I thought the whole game was very out of character for us. We took some very undisciplined penalties. It was probably one of the most disappointing losses of the season, mainly because of the way we lost.”
He continued, “This wasn’t the team we were in the third period. We were playing more to not lose. When you’re up one goal, you’re supposed to keep the pressure on and make sure you play in their zone and not our zone, and we didn’t do that.”
The next three games in the series will be played at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill., with Game 3 on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET, 
).
“We took the lead on the road and now we’ve played more games at home and are now five wins and three losses,” Anastas said. “We can take a proactive approach.”
The Eastern Conference Finals resume Monday in Toronto (7 p.m. ET, ), the Marlies won two games in Wilkes-Barre to open the series.
Friday’s 2-1 overtime loss in Game 2 allowed the Penguins to accomplish something only eight AHL teams had successfully accomplished before – win a best-of-seven series after losing the first two games at home.
Two of those eight teams are Wilkes-Barre/Scranton clubs; the Penguins defeated Bridgeport in 2006 and Norfolk in 2011.
Michael Pezzetta (3-1-4) A ball floats from the point where it bounces Sergei MurashovThe blocker at 14:53 of overtime helped Toronto win Game 2. Pezzetta also scored the decisive goal in the first game, tying the score at 2-2 with 1:36 left in regulation time.
“You see any team that has consistent success in the playoffs,” Marris coach John Gruden explain. “The top line neutralizes itself, and there’s always someone stepping up on the third or fourth line… We have four lines that can all play games, and we use them all.”
“He plays a real physical game,” teammate Mark Johnstone Pezzetta has played 209 games in the NHL over the past five seasons. “It creates some time and space for me Reese (Johnson). This is an interesting line. We lean on each other and both of these guys are incredible. “
