Halifax Floor Hockey League
The Sabres wasted no time in taking the lead, as Sabre captain Chad Griffin opened the scoring less than one minute into the game. Several minutes passed before Lynx defenseman Jason Fitzgerald was able to beat Sabre goalie Chris McMaster with a shot from the top of the circle. The Lynx built on that momentum when forward Chris Davison banked a shot from behind the goal line off McMaster's foot, and into the Sabres net. A late second period goal by the Sabres squared the affair at two entering the second period.
The Sabres started the second frame with renewed vigour, as they quickly overwhelmed the Lynx with three quick goals featuring highlight reel passing from Griffin, Spiro Bokolas and Dave MacKenzie. Things only got better for the Sabres, when defensive stalwart Dennis Drapeau finally arrived at the game, claiming that car trouble was the cause of his tardiness. Lynx captain Richard Wannamaker would not comment on rumours of sabotage.
The Lynx, undaunted by the Sabres attack, fought back valiantly, but were unable to beat McMaster until late in the period, when a scramble in front of the Sabres net eventually gave Fitzergald an empty net and his second goal of the game.
Down 5-3 entering the third period, and with their playoff lives on the line, it was the Lynx' turn to start a period with a furious attack. Ironman Mike Hashem scored two goals in the first five minutes of the third period to tie the game the game at five. Everything looked to be going to Lynx' way when they managed to kill a Craig Mercer penalty. The Sabres, however, were able to right the ship, and managed to put two more goals past Lynx goalie Peter Rankin, who had made several key saves to keep the Lynx in the game when they had trailed.
Things looked grim for the Lynx, who were now down 7-5 with only about five minutes to go. But Lynx defenseman Tony Warnell, arguably the quickest stick-handler in the league, was able to break down the Sabres defence and knock home his own rebound to close the gap to a solitary goal. Lynx superstar Craig Mercer, who had a quiet game offensively until this point, was able to beat McMaster with a quick shot along the floor to tie the game at 7 and send the Lynx faithful into a frenzy.
The Sabres had the better of the scoring chances in the dying moments, but Rankin made several clutch saves, including one on Dave MacKenzie with just over a minute remaining. When the final whistle blew, there were only three minutes left in the hour, so referee John Dulong and timekeeper Michael Griffiths decided that the game would immediately move into a shoot-out, instead of a sudden-death overtime.
The Sabres won the coin toss an elected to shoot second. Fitzgerald stepped up and took the first penalty shot for the Lynx, but his shot grazed McMaster's hip and just went wide of the goalpost much to the relief of the Sabres' bench. Chad Griffin was first up for the Sabres, but he was stoned by Rankin, who was named the game's first star.
Former Lynx number one goalie Tony McCarthy was next up for the Lynx. McCarthy also elected to shoot on McMaster, but was denied by a blocker save. Dave MacKenzie was the Sabres' second shooter. MacKenzie deked Rankin to the backhand side, and waited until Rankin was out of position before calmly lifting a backhand into the net to give the Sabres a 1-0 lead in the shoot-out.
Sniper Craig Mercer was the third Lynx shooter and first to try to deke McMaster. Mercer had McMaster down and out with a faked shot, but McMaster was able to recover enough to get his goalstick onto Mercer's stick, causing his shot to barely go wide. The Sabres elected to give the smooth stickhandling Spiro Bokolas their third penalty shot. Bokolas didn't disappoint the Sabres bench as he neatly deked Rankin well out of position before putting a backhand shot into the gaping net.
The Lynx, now down 2-0 with only two shots remaining, needed to score on both of their remaining goals to have a chance at victory. The Sabres, on the other hand, would advance to the final with a McMaster save. The Lynx pinned their hopes on Tony Warnell, whose third period goal was a key reason why the Lynx had even made it into the shootout. Again, Warnell deked McMaster out of position with a nifty move to McMaster's glove side. But as Warnell lifted a shot into the vacated net, McMaster, laying on his belly, was able to lift his glove into the air and block Warnell's shot.
Since the Lynx could no longer tie the Sabres, the shoot-out ended with the Sabres winning 2-0. The Sabres, riding a 7-game winning streak, will advance to play the LAN Hackers on Thursday evening at 9pm in the 2002B championship game. The Sabres will be trying to be the first team to repeat as champions since the 2000B season when the Hackers won their fourth consecutive title.
The Lynx will play the Slayers at 8pm on Thursday to determine who finishes third and fourth place overall. Despite the loss, it is the fifth consecutive season that the Lynx will finish in the top four teams.