Little to choose from on paper, even less to differentiate on the ice.
The Okotoks Drillers and Innisfail Eagles are locked up at 1-1 in the best-of-seven Chinook Hockey League semifinal series after the Eagles snatched a 6-3 result in Game 2, Sunday at the Scott Seaman Sports Rink in Davisburg.
ìWe were just undisciplined,î said Drillers winger Mike Kneeland after Game 2. ìI don't think they're quite as fast and skilled as us so they want to slow things down and get gritty against us.
ìWe needed to keep our discipline and focus on playing a faster and more skilled game and I don't think they will be able to skate with us.î
The plan was working early in Game 2 for the hosts.
Dynamic centre Adrian Foster potted his third goal of the series in the first minute of play with Kneeland finding twine inside five minutes on a partial breakaway.
Undaunted, the visitors would cut the lead in half in unlikely fashion.
Smooth skating defenceman Alex Curran fired in a rebound on a short-handed odd-man rush to get the Eagles off the ground.
Innisfail's physical forecheck paid dividends on the scoreboard in the middle frame.
Brendan Baumgartner found the back of the net after a cycle shift from the Eagles.
Soon after, Kneeland briefly restored the Drillers lead with a wrap-around beauty.
The Eagles would even the score before period's end with the penalty kill again providing the unlikely source of offence as winger Jeff Archibald converted on a two-on-one rush.
The visitors would take their first lead of the game inside the first minute of the final frame when alternate captain Mark Bomersback whacked in a rebound in the low-slot.
ìPlayoffs come around and you don't score pretty goals anymore,î said Bomersback, a former national Junior A player of the year with the Canmore Eagles. ìI picked up a rebound and happened to backhand it into the empty net.
ìIt was a big goal. The five and six goals were just as big because it put it out of reach.î Veteran forward Kevin Smyth provided the fifth tally after his shot from the boards bounced in off Okotoks blueliner Curtis Beech. Dan Nicholls then added an insurance marker on the power play to seal the three-goal victory for the Eagles.
Innisfail outshot Okotoks by a 50-27 count, making for a busy evening for Drillers netminder Gerry Festa. At the other end of the ice, Steven Stanford picked up his first win of the playoffs after a 24-save performance.
Compounding matters for Okotoks was the loss of their Number 1 centre to injury. Foster, the league's assist leader during the regular season, left the contest in the first period and did not return to the ice.
ìHe's arguably the best player in the league so obviously losing him is going to hurt,î Kneeland said. ìWe don't know how bad it is, but hopefully he will be back (this) week.î
Fortunately for the Drillers, some valuable breathing room was earned on Saturday.
Okotoks took the series opener by a 4-1 margin on Feb. 21 on home ice.
The Drillers carried a 2-1 advantage after the first period. The teams exchanging power-play goals through Okotoks' Foster and Innsfail's Joe Vandermeer, followed by an even-strength marker from Alex Pronchuk. Foster added a second-period tally, along with an empty-netter from Jesse Todd in the final minutes to round out the three-goal triumph.
Todd Ford was stellar in between the pipes for Okotoks, stopping 42 of 43 shots.
ìWe played a great all-around 60 minutes,î Kneeland said. ìGreat goaltending, defence played well and we just stuck to our game plan and didn't get in the penalty box.î
Still, taking one of two on the road and stealing home-ice advantage from the Drillers should give the third-seed Eagles a boost. Should the series go the full seven games in duration, Innisfail would host three of the next five.
ìGetting the split here is huge and now we come back home,î Bomersback said. ìThey're going to want to come up there and split too.
ìIt's never over until it's over and it's going to be a battle right to the end.î
The Eagles play host to back-to-back contests this weekend at the Innisfail Twin Arena. Game 3 is an 8:30 p.m. puck drop on Feb. 28. Game 4 goes March 1 at 5 p.m.
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Mark Bomersback
"Playoffs come around and you don't score pretty goals anymore. I picked up a rebound and happened to backhand it into the empty net."
