The Patriots’ hope of closing out the quarter-finals round of the D-II playoffs with Ponaganset hit a snag yesterday as the Chieftains took game two of the series by a score of 3-2 in the second overtime period of a game played at the Abbey.

 

Twice during the game Portsmouth took the lead, and twice Ponaganset tied the game.  The Chieftains then held on through the end of a wide open third period that finished with a Patriots power play to keep the score tied and send the contest to sudden death overtime.

   

Christian Schenck put the Patriots on the scoreboard first with 1:17 remaining in the first period.  After stickhandling through two defenders at the blue line, Schenck had a clean breakaway to the net where he sent a point blank shot over the goalie’s right shoulder and into the goal.  Alec Roderiques and Cam Mello were credited with assists on the goal.

 

Portsmouth’s lead held until the middle of the second period when Ponaganset tied the score with its first goal against Patriots in seven and a half periods of play this season.  To that point Patriots goalie Matt Nordhill had been the bane of the Chieftains stopping every shot he faced.

 

The first two periods of the game had played out much as had the entire previous two games between the teams.  Solid defense was on display at both ends of the ice with only limited shots on goal and even fewer real scoring opportunities.  At the second intermission, with the score tied at one goal apiece, shots totaled only ten for Portsmouth and nine for Ponaganset.  That all changed when the squads returned to the ice for the third period.

 

Ponaganset needed a win to survive and force a third game in the series, while Portsmouth looked to close out the Chieftains and advance to the semi-finals.  With that much at stake it is not surprising that both teams worked to maximize their efforts and scoring opportunities before regulation time expired.  Perhaps the best indicator of how the tempo of the game changed can be seen in the fact that the shots taken by each team in the third period exceeded their totals for the first two periods.  Before the buzzer sounded to end regulation time the Patriots had launched nineteen shots and the Chieftains eleven in that period alone, each resulting in a single goal.

 

Portsmouth collected the first tally to take a 2-1 lead at 1:19 into the third period.  Nolan O’Brien notched his second goal of the post-season when he shot the puck off a rebound by Jonah Callandret who was given the assist on the goal.  Ponaganset evened the score for the second time in the game with a goal off their only power play in the contest at the 5:35 mark.

 

With 2:04 left in regulation, the Patriots went on a power play and had a great opportunity to put the game and the series away, but were unable to close the deal.  During the man-advantage the squad peppered the Chieftains’ goalie, Curtis Briggs, with shots, but he stopped every one of them, including a flurry near the end of the power play.  In that final effort Portsmouth had at least three shots in quick succession with the puck loose in the goal crease yet still Briggs managed to keep it out of his net.  When the whistle blew with eight seconds remaining in the period players from both teams were crowded around the goal, with many of them sprawled on the ice, and the puck still outside the goal line.  The clock ran out after the subsequent faceoff and the game headed to overtime.

 

Overtime in the playoffs is conducted differently than during the regular season.  Before the tournament starts any time a game is tied at the end of regulation play, a five minute, sudden-death overtime period is added with the teams skating five players on each side.  If neither team scores by the end of the overtime session, the game is considered a tie.  Since a winner must be determined in the playoffs, the format is adjusted to produce one.  During the post-season if a game is tied at the end of regulation play, the teams play a seven and a half minute sudden-death overtime period with four skaters a side.  If neither team scores by the end of the session, a second overtime period is added using the same format.  If the score is still tied at the end of both overtime periods, the game gets decided by a shootout.  Yesterday’s game did not get to the shootout, but it did take until the second overtime period for the Chieftains to win it.

 

During the beginning of the first overtime session, Portsmouth had difficulty picking up where it left off at the end of the third period.  The team found itself trapped in its own end of the ice for most of the first half of the period.  Whether it was skating four on four, which does not happen a lot during the season, or whether fatigue was beginning to set in, the team struggled.  But while the players had trouble getting their offense going, they still played solid defense, holding the Chieftains to only four shots throughout the entire period.  More importantly, they kept their opponent off the scoreboard.  About the mid-point of the overtime Portsmouth found its game and controlled the second half of the period.  The team ended the session with five shots but no goals to show for it.  With the score still tied the game headed to a second overtime period.

 

The Patriots were unable to carry the momentum they had developed in the latter part of the first overtime through the short rink-side intermission between the extra periods.  Shortly after the second overtime began the Patriots did have a scoring chance when Schenck had a clear run at Ponaganset’s net.  But he was unable to reproduce the magic of his first goal, and the play soon returned to Portsmouth’s zone.  At 1:55 into the second overtime, Ponaganset beat Nordhill to break the tie and claim the win.

 

Overall, Portsmouth outshot Ponaganset 35-25.  Nordhill made 22 saves in the loss.  The Patriots had two power play opportunities without producing a goal.  The team faced only one penalty kill situation but was unable to prevent the Chieftains from cashing in with the man-advantage.

 

The Chieftains victory tied the series at one game apiece and forced a winner-take-all Game 3.  The arrangements for that game are in work, although it is presumed the site for the contest will be, as with Game 1, back at the Levy Community Ice Center in Burrillville.  Whether the game will be played next Monday or Tuesday, and at what time it will start, has yet to be announced.   Once the preparations have been finalized by the league, they will be posted on this web site.

 

Keep both Monday and Tuesday open on your schedule so you can attend the game.  The Patriots need your support as they venture back to the Chieftains home rink in the final and determining game of the quarter-final series.  It is along but pleasant drive to Burrillville.  Make the trip to cheer the team onto the next round of the playoffs.

 

See you at the rink.