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Recap for games of November 6 & 7
Fighting for final say
In Sunday-morning game marred by misconducts,
Bobcats hold on to complete sweep of New Jersey
Sometimes a player must defend his teammates by defending himself. That was the case for three New York Bobcats this weekend during the second game of their doubleheader sweep of the New Jersey Rockets Sunday, Nov. 7.
Forwards Mike Coppola, Nick Grasso and Vladimir Nikiforov were each issued game misconducts for fighting and will miss the first of the Bobcats’ two games against the Washington Junior Nationals this Saturday at the Bowie Ice Arena. Although coach Aleksey Nikiforov said the fighting initially provided momentum for the Rockets to make a comeback, New York held them off, 9-6, on late goals by forward Thomas Galiani and defenseman Craig Cole.
“In the second game, what happened is [the Rockets] were losing badly and their strategy was to try to make us emotional, to look for fights,” said coach Nikiforov, whose Bobcats (11-3-0-1) hold an seven-point lead in the Southern Division of the Atlantic Junior Hockey League. “So they instigated and we followed, even our captain.”
Nikiforov was referring to Coppola, who took exception to the Rockets’ penchant for playing after the whistle. Coppola, who clinched the Bobcats’ Saturday-night win with an empty-net goal, said the Rockets were taking some cheap shots at Bobcats’ goalie Chris Molinaro.
“As a captain he kind of stood up for our team and took matters to where they should have been,” said forward Patrick Moriarty, noting that a captain’s responsibility is “to make sure everything stays in line and that nobody’s getting hurt, no cheap shots [are thrown].”
“Really for anybody on the ice it would be their role to protect the goalie,” Coppola said of Molinaro, who allowed only one goal in 23 shots on Saturday and hung tough through a nail-biting third period on Sunday. “He was probably the most important player on the ice at that time.”
Just as important was forward Tony Romano, who scored two goals an added a big assist in the third period. The Rockets pulled to within 7-6 when Nick Lampson scored with 5:16 remaining, but 1:30 later Romano fed Galiani for the Bobcats’ insurance goal. Then Jordan Behler—one of several Bobcat defensemen forced to play on the attack with the three aforementioned forwards gone—assisted Cole for the clincher less than a minute later.
“[The fighting] kind of sparked [the Rockets] at first, and after that they scored three unanswered goals. But in the third period we calmed ourselves down,” Bobcats General Manager Ron Kinnear said. “We got back to our game, and that’s how we finished it off.”
But that’s also how they started it off. After rolling to a 4-1 win on Saturday behind goals from Evan Lucas, Grasso, Nikiforov and Coppola, the Bobcats jumped out to a 4-1, first-period lead on Sunday morning. The Rockets scored first, but New York answered less than a minute later on a power-play goal by defenseman Casey Hubbard (Lucas, Nikiforov assists). Romano gave the Bobcats the lead for good at the midway point of the period when he scored on a breakaway feed from Nikiforov, and three minutes later James Gorman made it 3-1 off assists from Jason DeLuca and Coppola. Nikiforov scored the Bobcats’ third goal in a five-minute span when he deked three defenders before slipping a shot into the top-right corner of the net.
“They weren’t able to skate with us, so they changed their attack,” Kinnear said of the Rockets. “They were trying to key on our skilled forwards, playing after the whistle and running into the goalie—doing little things to try and change the momentum.”
At first it worked, as New Jersey took three of the Bobcats’ top players out of the game while getting itself back into it. After getting into fights later in the second period, both Grasso and Nikiforov joined Coppola in the locker room.
“Grasso, he’s an offensive player and the same thing with Vladimir,” Romano said. “They were just protecting themselves.”
Which left the rest of the Bobcats to protect the lead. And in the end, New York regained its composure and finished the job. “It was a very good weekend,” coach Nikiforov said. “The New Jersey Rockets are a fast, young, talented team. They’re a very good team… but we’re better.”
Especially on Saturday, when Lucas opened the scoring 8:01 into the game off assists from Nikiforov and Behler. Grasso made it 2-0 3:03 into the second period when he moved in on a 2-on-1 and faked a pass to Romano before putting it home. Nikiforov’s power-play goal from Behler made it 3-0 9:35 into the third. Only a power-play goal by New Jersey’s Shawn Lugo—which followed an undisciplined penalty taken by Moriarty, according to Kinnear—prevented Molinaro from registering a shutout.
“Molinaro was the difference in the game,” Kinnear said. “He played very well. He made the key saves when he needed to.”
The Bobcats’ play Saturday night was indicative of a team hungry to get back onto the ice after suffering a pair of one-goal losses to the first-place Boston Bulldogs. “Even though we lost the two games against Boston, they were tight games,” Kinnear said, “but we wanted to get back on the winning track.”
“In both of those games [against Boston] we got a lot of stupid penalties. We didn’t really play well defensively,” Romano said, “but we played a lot better this weekend.”
Behler was one player who refrained from taking stupid penalties in Sunday’s game. Rather than dropping his gloves in the midst of the mayhem, he simply held his opponent up along the boards to prevent him from getting involved.
“There’s a point where you should fight,” said Behler, who will be dressed this Saturday, “and there’s a point where you should not fight for the sake of the team.”
Fortunately for the coaching staff, the Bobcats are a deep team.
“There are a lot of kids who can step up. We have a lot of depth on our team. All 25 of us can play,” said Coppola, who should be back on the ice along with Grasso and Vladimir Nikiforov this Sunday. “I’m sure someone will step up and do what they have to do.”
What they have to do is to avoid a letdown. Washington is in last place in the Southern Division but should get the benefit of the doubt from its home-ice officials. “You never take Washington for granted… and plus now the first game we’re going to be without three of our top forwards,” Kinnear said. “We’re definitely not taking them lightly. It should be four points for us, but with what we’re facing (three Saturday suspensions and a five-hour bus ride) we should be concerned about it.”
Opposing teams should be concerned about the Bobcats. Not only are they arguably the most skilled team in the league, but they’re also one of the toughest.
“This is the type of team we have. You can definitely say we’re a skilled team, quick and fast,” said Kinnear, noting that the Bobcats prefer not to fight “because it’s not our style. But when we have to defend ourselves, we’re capable of doing that.”
GAME 1: SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6
1 2 3 FINAL
N.J. Rockets 0 0 1 1
BOBCATS 1 1 2 4
Goals -- NYB: Lucas, Grasso, Nikiforov (PP), Coppola (EN); NJR: Lugo (PP). Saves – NYB: Molinaro 22; NJR: Bendel 26.
GAME 2: SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 7
1 2 3 FINAL
N.J. Rockets 1 4 1 6
BOBCATS 4 3 2 9
Goals -- NYB: Romano 2, Hubbard (PP), Gorman, Nikiforov, Behler, Gold, Galiani, Cole; NJR: Lugo (PP), Demauro, Saunders (PP), Vanderbeek, Callen, Lampson. Saves – NYB: Molinaro 24; NJR – Stoffel 16; Bendel 14.
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