Portland Pirates Make Monarchs Walk The Plank; Win 3-2
Francis Wathier Scores Game Winner With 2.9 Seconds To Give Portland Pirates Their First Playoff Win
Like I mentioned in my last post, the Portland Pirates needed this win to stay alive in the playoffs, and they came through. The regular season and their past record against the Monarchs made no difference, because “THIS IS THE PLAYOFFS, BOYS!”
They played this game with the intensity needed to take the third game, and prevent the Mighty Manchester club from sweeping.
A couple of Pirate players who have seen action with the parent Arizona Coyotes were active in this win. Klas Dahlbeck, and Philip Samuelsson both assisted on a first period goal by Phil Lane to give the Pirates a first period lead. And that was a first, since the Monarchs were always in the lead throughout the first two playoff battles.
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The Monarchs tied it right before the horn blew to end the second period with a goal by Michael Mersch on a power play. Then, the Monarchs took a 2-1 lead at the 5:28 mark of the second period. The Portland Pirates had an answer for that goal by scoring one at 12:50 by Eric Selleck, assisted by Lucas Lessio (who saw quite a bit of action with the Coyotes this past season), and Dylan Reese.
The score remained knotted at two, until Wathier became the hero with assists from Brandon Gormley and Brendan Shinnimin.
Louis Domingue (1-1) got the start in goal for the Portland Pirates, and stopped 31 of 33 shots.
Game four is scheduled on Thursday, 4-29-15 in Portland, and if necessary the deciding game five will be in Manchester on Saturday May 2nd.
It’s good to see that players the Arizona Coyotes are considering for roster spots are getting playing time. Players like Dahlbeck, Samuelsson on defense; Dauphin, Dvorak, Perlini, and MacInnis on the forward lines are getting some playoff experience, even if it’s at the minor league level.
That can only help them develop further, and eventually allow the Arizona Coyotes the opportunity to advance their careers with the organization.
I’m really interested to see if Perlini, Dvorak, and MacInnis do well in the rookie camp, and training camp later this year. Christian Dvorak has all the offensive skills needed to be a NHL player.
It would be very exciting to see him on a Max Domi line, and just think if the Coyotes draft a Mitch Marner the threesome could be re-united from their London Knights days.
I hear that the Maple Leafs are really high on Dylan Strome, and perhaps would be interested in trading up to the Coyotes number three selection. The Coyotes would then send Lauri Korpikoski and a third round pick to Toronto, leading them to be able to draft Marner. I still think Strome would be a good choice for the Arizona Coyotes, but we will need to wait and see which direction they will be going.
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