Recap for games of March 18 & 19: AJHL Quarterfinals

Good to the last shot

Moriarty’s last-second winner sparks

’Cats to two-game sweep of Portland

There is no time to sulk about allowing a last-minute goal, especially when a playoff game is at stake.

So when the Bobcats were burned for the equalizer with 32 seconds left in their AJHL quarterfinals opener against the Portland Junior Pirates on March 18, they weren’t about to panic. And neither was their coach.

“I said, ‘Hey, plenty of time,’ and I said, ‘If we don’t score right now, we’re going to score in overtime,’” Bobcats head coach Aleksey Nikiforov said. “But, from another point, I was a little bit nervous, too, because Portland has a lot of good players.”

In a one-goal came, though, it comes down to which team has the clutch players. And for New York, that person is forward Patrick Moriarty, who scored the first of two Bobcat goals in the final six seconds as the ‘Cats escaped with a 4-2 win en route to a two-game sweep that moved them into the AJHL semifinals.

Moriarty started the play when he took a shot from the high slot area that was blocked. While a Portland defender was trying to cover the loose puck for a face-off, Moriarty worked it free and buried it pat Pirates goalie Casey Tuttle for the winner with six seconds left.

“Portland was waiting but there was no whistle. Moriarty got to the puck and took a quick swipe, and it was in,” Nikiforov said. “It was spectacular—very emotional. Their bench [Portland] just went crazy [looking for a whistle], while our bench got relief and we were very happy.”

All the air seeped out of the Pirates’ playoff bubble four seconds later, as center Stephen Schultz won the ensuing face-off and passed the puck to forward Tony Romano, who was all alone for an empty-net insurance goal. Goaltender Evan Hyndman stopped 19 of 21 shots to tie Doug Danzi for the team lead in wins (24).

Romano scored what appeared to be the game-winner when he skated end to end before scoring unassisted to give the Bobcats a 2-1 lead 5:09 into the third period.

“That was an unbelievable goal. From coast to coast, he took the puck and skated past all five guys, full speed, like he was playing against five cones on ice,” Nikiforov said. “He scored backhanded from the left side, put it in short-side, top-shelf.”

But Portland converted the rebound of its own stopped shot for the second time in the game with 32 ticks left, when Portland’s Andrew Letellier crashed the net weak side for the tying goal.

Nikiforov called it “miscommunication with our goalie” but said “I thought overall Hyndman played very solid.”

Hyndman took over the team lead in wins the following day, when he stopped 18 of 23 shots to improve to 25-2-3 on the year. Schultz also continued to contribute, as his four-point night (one goal, three assists) highlighted the Bobcats’ 7-5 victory, which moved them into the semifinals against the Hartford Wolf Pack on March 22 at the Iorio Arena in Walpole, Mass.

If the Bobcats win Wednesday, they will face the winner of the other semifinal between the defending champion Boston Bulldogs and Hudson Valley Eagles on March 23 at 7 p.m. It would be their second straight trip to the one-game tournament final.

Nikiforov is hoping he gets what the Bobcats gave him in the first two periods against Portland on Sunday—a sizeable lead and, more importantly, unrestrained effort. According to Nikiforov, Schultz needed to dig up his second wind before playing one of his best—and physically strenuous—games of the year.

“Before the Sunday game, he asked me, ‘Coach, don’t put me in every other shift, because I am so tired. I feel tired, I’m fatigued. I don’t want to play every other shift,’” Nikiforov said of Schultz. “And I said, ‘Hey, that’s what it’s all about. Go through the fatigue. Push yourself and you’ll see what happens—four points.’”

The final score was closer than it had to be, as the Bobcats took a 6-2 lead before allowing three of the last four goals. Romano increased his team-leading point-scoring streak to 16 games with two goals and an assist, all of which are either scored or assisted by Schultz. That included Romano's fifth game-winner of the season and team-best 18th power-play goal. Mike DeMayo added two assists, and Moriarty a goal and two assists.

Still, there may been no bigger goal this season than Moriarty’s game-winner last Saturday night.

“He had no time; he got the puck and just shot it in one motion,’ Nikiforov said of Moriarty, who has 14 goals and 13 assists in the Bobcats’ last 14 games. “He’s doing very well. Right now, the last three, four, five games he’s playing very solid and consistently.”

Moriarty should enjoy playing next year with a hefty crop of rising stars like forward Angelo Vrachnas, who scored the first goal 7:54 into Sunday’s game to give the Bobcats the lead for good. DeMayo came out from behind the net and made a nice lead pass to Matt Mangene, who skated in full speed before making a back-door feed to Vrachnas—just the way Nikiforov drew it up.

“We spent a lot of time on the power-play in practice, that’s why they communicate so good,” he said. “It was a great goal. Three [junior-level] rookies, and look what they did.”

They’ll need to do more of the same against a Hartford team that has played the Bobcats tough in two of their four head-to-head meetings, including the Wolfpack’s 3-2 OT win on Jan. 27.

“We have to play our game,” Nikiforov said, calling Hartford’s Ryan Criscuolo the best defenseman in the league, “but we have to be very responsible and very, very disciplined.”

And be good to the last drop. Or, in the Bobcats’ case, the last shot. And last seconds.

      GAME 1, AJHL Q-FINALS: MARCH 18

                                 1    2    3    FINAL

Portland Jr. Pirates   0    1    1       2

N.Y. BOBCATS          1    0    3       4

Goals – NYB: Satin (assisted by Chlanda, Ernyey; 6:37 1st), Romano (unassisted; 5:09 3rd), Moriarty (unassisted; 19:54 3rd), Romano (Schultz; 19:58 3rd, EN); PJP: Pych (Bouchard; 7:47 2nd), Letellier (Jones, Payson; 19:28 3rd). Saves – NYB: Hyndman 19 (21 shots, 60 minutes); PJP: Tuttle 24 (28 shots, 59:54).

      GAME 2, AJHL Q-FINALS: MARCH 19

                                 1    2    3    FINAL

Portland Jr. Pirates   1    2    2       5

N.Y. BOBCATS          3    3    1       7

Goals – NYB: Vrachnas (Mangene, DeMayo; 7:54 1st), Von Sydow (unassisted; 11:12 1st, SH), Schultz (Romano, Moriarty; 18:39 1st, PP), Moriarty (DeMayo, Schultz; 3:08 2nd), Satin (Ernyey; 7:06 2nd), Romano (Schultz, Moriarty; 9:08 2nd), Romano (Schultz; 10:43 3rd, PP); PJP: Casciano (unassisted; 13:38 1st), Smith (unassisted; 5:05 2nd), Simonini (Michaud, Jones; 17:17 2nd), Jones (unassisted; 1:09 3rd, PP), Tondreau (Jones; 5:52 3rd). Saves – NYB: Hyndman 18 (23 shots, 60 minutes); PJP: Tuttle 34 (41 shots, 60 minutes).