Short-Handed Win: Spiro's Late Tally Lifts Underma

Despite finishing with the exact same record and goal differential, the Lite-Sabres were considered by most to be heavy underdogs heading into their semi-final matchup with the Lynx Thursday night. For one thing, the Lynx had swept the Sabres in their two regular season meetings, allowing Richard Wanamaker’s squad to claim 2nd place and the first round bye. For another, the Lite-Sabres were hit not only with the injury bug, but also by the Christmas party bug, leaving their lineup severely depleted. And one of the 5 skaters who did show up, Kevin Haddad, was nursing a bruised ankle and was questionable right up until gametime.

The first period did nothing to change this opinion, as the Lynx led 4-2 after spotting the Sabres the game’s first two goals. Haddad, who started each period on the bench, got more floor-time and seemed to get stronger as the game wore on, courageously scoring a goal in each of the first two periods. This inspired his club to take a 7-6 lead into the final stanza.

Early in the third, Wanamaker tallied his first goal of the game to knot the affair at 7-7. Twice more the Lite-Sabres took the lead, only to have rookie sensation Mark Leblanc, then Wanamaker count equalizers. Then with 1:22 remaining, the Sabres' luck appeared to run out, as Kevin Haddad was whistled for a roughing penalty by referee Barrie Harvey. Haddad protested vehemently but to no avail. The furor from this call had barely died down when Spiro Bokolas took a pass from defenseman Matt Monk and from just past center rifled a shot past a stunned Tony McCarthy to give the Lite-Sabres the lead. Though they pulled McCarthy for an extra attacker and a 5 on 3 advantage in the last minute, and had a couple of good chances to send the game to a shootout, the Lynx were denied, and the Sabres had an improbable 10-9 win.

Earlier in the evening, Tony Joyce scored 6 goals and Matt Wheeler had 5 points to lead the Slayers to a 13-5 quarter-final victory over the Fire. The Slayers advance to Monday’s semi-final where they will take on the top seeded and defending champion LAN Hackers.

Notes

This was the third season in a row and the fifth time overall that the Lite-Sabres and Lynx had met in the semi-finals. The Sabres are now 3-2 in those meetings…The Sabres advance to the final for the seventh time. They will be seeking their fourth title next Thursday…The Fire and Slayers played for only the second time in the playoffs and the first since May 25, 2000, when the Fire won 10-9. Kenzie Royal and Jake Haddad, current Fire and former Slayers, were the only two to play in both games…Bokolas became the only player other than Phil Pellerin to score a post-season short-handed goal. Pellerin has scored two…Joyce’s goals briefly moved him into a 2nd-place tie for all-time playoff markers with 41. Kevin Haddad reclaimed the position with 43. John Price leads with 68…Lite-Sabre goalie Chris McMaster played in his 16th career post-season match, overtaking John Dulong for top spot in that category. Dulong played 15.84.