Last Spring, Allen Americans left wing Vincent Arseneau was a member of the CHL Denver Cutthroat team that fell in five games to the President’s Cup champion Americans. Prior to the opener of this year’s Allen-South Carolina ECHL Kelly Cup Finals series, the 23-year old native of Iles-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec promised a bystander in the tunnel leading to the ice that he would not be on the losing team this in this year’s battle for hockey hardware.
On Sunday night, June 7 in North Charleston, South Carolina, Arseneau did his part to fulfill the promise. The San Jose Sharks prospect who was assigned to ECHL Western Conference champion Allen from Worcester (AHL) late in the regular season scored 8:49 into the second overtime stanza to give the Americans a hard-fought victory and deadlock the series at two games apiece.
Arseneau picked up a loose puck that emerged from a battle along the boards and wristed the disc past South Carolina standout goalie Jeff Jakaitis to make this a best of three game series.
“(The puck) got tipped after he shot it,” Jakaitis said after the game that was witnessed by more than 7,000 raucous fans at the North Charleston Coliseum. “When he released it, my original read was that it was going to the blocker side and it got (deflected) up over my shoulder. It’s frustrating. I probably got caught a little deeper in my net than I should have been.”
Both Jakaitis, the ECHL’s 2014-15 MVP and the its Goalie of the Year in both 2013-14 and 2014-15 and Allen goalie Riley Gill engaged in a memorable battle to give their respective teams an opportunity to win. Gill, who helped capture a Kelly Cup title as a member of the 2012 Reading (PA) Royals, made 44 saves, including 10 in the first overtime session that featured several stops near his goal crease.
“I thought both goalies were really good tonight,” said Allen GM/Coach Steve Martinson. “Gill was outstanding in that first overtime, giving us a chance to win the game in the second overtime period.
“The shots on goal (46-37 in favor of the Stingrays) are a bit deceiving because South Carolina had twice the power play opportunities that we did,” Martinson added. “We (only) had two full power plays and one that was very short. We’re back in the series but still haven’t played our best hockey yet. There are several things we can do to improve (our game).”
The Americans jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead when forwards Dyson Stevenson and Greger Hanson lit the lamp 30 seconds apart early in the opening period. Hanson wore a faceguard cage on his helmet after losing a few teeth when he was accidentally high sticked in the third period of Game 3 in Allen. The ECHL Eastern Conference champion Stingrays’ tied it at 2-2 on goals by rookies Derek DeBlois (first period) and Caleb Herbert (second).
“Give Gill credit, he played a great game,” said South Carolina coach Spencer Carbery. “We did all the right things, but we just couldn’t finish. Gill is a big body and we hit him a lot in the chest area. We probably didn’t make it as a difficult as we could have with getting traffic to the net and battling for rebounds, but we were better offensively.
“We battled back, but that’s kind of what you’d expect from this (team),” Carbery added. “We’re going to reset, refocus and get ready for (Game 5).”
The series resumes Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m. (EDT), with Game 6 to follow on Wednesday evening in South Carolina. If the teams split the next two matches, a deciding Game 7 tilt will be played in Allen this Sunday, June 14 at 4:05p.m. (CDT).
The teams are playing a 3-3-1 format that was necessitated by the availability of their respective arenas. The Stingrays were permitted to make the final line changes as if they were the home team in Game 3 in Allen, and Allen will do so in Game 6 in South Carolina.
In Game 3, the Stingrays never trailed while taking a two-games-to-one lead with a 4-1 victory over host Allen. South Carolina’s top line of DeBlois, Wayne Simpson and Andrew Rowe had a hand in all four goals, and in eight of the Stringrays’ 10 red lights over the first three games.
South Carolina defenseman Michal Cajkovsky gloved an ill-timed dump-in attempt and found Rowe for a back-breaking breakaway goal that made it 3-1 with just over three minutes left in regulation. Simpson, whose 36 points (12 goals, 24 assists) have set a single-season Kelly Cup playoff scoring record, added an empty net goal to complete the scoring.
Goalie Jakaitis was spectacular while making 39 saves. “Jeff was the MVP tonight, no question he was at the top of his game,” said Carbery. “He played the caliber of hockey that made him (an award-winning goalie), making some huge, huge saves, especially in the third period when we were under attack. Allen put a ton of pressure on us and he made some big saves in some pivotal moments. He stepped up in a key time when we needed him the most.”
Allen forward Chris Crane finally beat Jakaitis early in the third period after Cajkovsky (second period) and Rowe (third) had given the Stingrays a 2-0 lead. “We did a lot of things better tonight, but just didn’t win,” said Martinson. “We’re optimistic going forward, though.”
Allen tied the series at a game apiece in Game 2 as forward Gary Steffes netted a pair of second period goals to give the home team a 3-0 lead. Forwards Spencer Asuchak and Dyson Stevenson and defenseman Konrad Abeltshauser (empty netter) also scored for Allen, which barely outshot the Stingrays as Gill made 21 saves.
“The good thing is, we finished (our scoring chances),” said Martinson. “We got to their goalies (Jakaitis and Clay Witt) and (Gill) was better than theirs tonight. We’re used to carrying the puck in more than (South Carolina is) allowing us and they work really hard. They always have a guy back and they don’t cheat at all. They don’t give you much.”
Allen dropped Game 1, its first loss after scoring the first goal of the game in this year’s playoff run. Defenseman Trevor Ludwig gave Allen a quick 1-0 lead less than a minute into the game, but the Stingrays’ top line struck for three red lights in a 7:05 span – one by Rowe and two more from Simpson. Allen rallied with second and third period goals to forge a 3-3 tie and went on the power play. But after an anemic offensive showing during the man advantage, Sean Dolan outworked an Allen defenseman for a loose puck and beat Gill for a shorthanded goal midway through the third period.
“Our defense was not ready for their top scoring line,” said Martinson. “We need more guys in the battle…we didn’t get enough from the top guys tonight.”
Some information for this story was obtained from Barry Janssen’s Allen Americans Blog.
