The Indiana Ice barely needed more than 24 hours to dispatch the Waterloo Black Hawks in their best-of-3 opening round series, and now the Ice have earned a date with the Green Bay Gamblers in the USHL East Division semifinals.
The Ice swept the series with a 6-3 victory Friday night, earning 10 power plays and using two quick two-goal bursts to take a lead they'd never relinquish.
Sean Kuraly and defenseman Alex Barron scored goals 96 seconds apart in the final four minutes of the first period to give the Ice a 2-0 lead. After Waterloo cut the lead to 2-1 in the second, Blake Coleman and David Johnstone scored power play goals 1:16 apart when Waterloo's John Siemer was given a tripping major and 10-minute match penalty for attempt to injure. Those two goals -- the second of the series for both players -- gave the Ice a 4-1 edge with 5:10 to go in the second. Dan Cesarz scored his second goal of the series, while Daniil Tarasov added the icing on the cake in the third period on a power play.
The Ice were 3-for-10 with the man advantage, as Waterloo was whistled for 37 minutes in penalties.
Casey DeSmith made 27 saves in net for the Ice.
Tarasov and Brian Ferlin both had three-point nights, as Tarasov had two assists and Ferlin three. While those two were among the USHL's top scorers this season, Cesarz stepping in with two playoff goals have been pleasant. He tallied just five goals in 40 games during the regular season.
Meanwhile, DeSmith stopped 95.6% of the shots he faced in the series, allowing three goals on 68 shots.
Three stars:
1. Blake Coleman (Ice), goal, assist
2. Brian Ferlin (Ice), 3 assists
3. Alex Barron (Ice), goal
Boxscore
No comments:
Post a Comment