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BrewskyBoy · 09-06-2019, 01:57 PM

Wild Card Recap: #8 St. Louis Scarecrows

vs.

#9 Anaheim Outlaws

The Scarecrows squared off against the Outlaws for a best of 7 wild card series. These two teams had some relatively disappointing regular seasons in comparison to previous seasons, with the Scarecrows finishing the season at 24-22-4 and the Outlaws going 22-23-5. The last time these two teams faced each other in the playoffs was two seasons ago, where we saw Anaheim come out on top in game 7 of the semi-finals en route to winning the Four Star Cup. The two teams matched up 5 times during the regular season here in S49, with St. Louis taking 4 of the 5 games but only outscoring Anaheim by a tally of 20-17.

Game 1
Anaheim @ St. Louis (series tied 0-0)

The series opened up in St. Louis for game 1. Both teams were looking to forget their regular season performances and were ready to make history with a Four Star Cup run, starting here with game 1 in the wild card matchup. Anaheim was able to get on the board first with a goal by Anthony Banthony on the power play. St. Louis was determined to even things back up in the first period still and tied it at 1-1 with a goal from Mika Kandinsky. This was quickly followed up by a goal from Barrett Blackwood to give the Scarecrows a 2-1 lead. Tempers started to boil after this, as Colton Strudwick got into a fight with Kevin Robinson. This fight was resulted in a power play for Anaheim, and Strudwick received a game misconduct for instigating. Lallo Selman scored on the power play for Anaheim to tie the game back up 2-2.

The second period was all St. Louis, as Yamamoto Mituharu and captain Nicolaj Muller both scored to give them a 4-2 lead. The third period saw the Outlaws attempt to climb back into the game as Nick Connolly cut the deficit in half 4-3, but Kandinsky tallied his second goal of the game late in the third to ice the game for the Scarecrows. It was a rough outing for Anaheim's starting goaltender Patrick Niederreiter, as he was pulled midway through the second period after saving only 8 of the 12 shots he faced. MVP contender Nicolaj Muller was the clear first star of this game, as he registered 4 points (1G, 3A).

Final: Scarecrows win 5-3

Game 2
Anaheim @ St. Louis (STL leads 1-0)

Game 2 was a real battle between the goalies, who both turned up great performances. St. Louis, eager to keep home ice advantage and go up 2-0 in the series, was the first team to get on the board with a clap bomb from Noah Brusky. Anaheim, refusing to fall into a hole, managed to tie the game up at 1-1 with Lallo Selman's second goal of the series. The first period ended without any further scoring, and we saw no scoring in the second period. We entered the third period tied 1-1, despite the shot totals being 25-22 in Anaheim's favor. Just 22 seconds into the third, the Scarecrows jumped back into the lead with a goal from Barrett Blackwood. A desperate Outlaws team tied the game up yet again with just 2 minutes left to play, as Gunnar Petrov scored his first of the series. The third period ended without any further scoring, so we head to overtime.

Both teams came out firing to start OT, with the Scarecrows registering 8 shots and the Outlaws with 7, just 9 minutes into the frame. The Outlaws evened up the shots on goal for the OT period with shot number 8, and won the game too as Nick Connolly's shot found the back of the net. Patrick Niederreiter, after an abysmal performance in game 1, bounced back very strong in game 2 as he was named the first star of the game. The Anaheim goaltender turned aside 38 of the 40 shots that he faced.

Final: Outlaws win 3-2 (OT) Outlaws

Game 3
St. Louis @ Anaheim (series tied 1-1)

With the series knotted at 1 a piece, we shift from the midwest to the west coast in Anaheim. The Scarecrows struck first and second on the road to take the home crowd out of the game early, with goals from rookies Mitsuharu and McCrosbov. The first period ended 2-0 St. Louis leading, with the shots being 15-13 in favor of Anaheim. The second period saw the Outlaws cut the lead in half to 2-1 with a power play goal from Anthony Archer. it looked as if the Outlaws would get out of the period only down by a goal, but St. Louis was having none of that. With 5 seconds left on the clock, Barrett Blackwood scored his third goal of the playoffs to extend the Scarecrow lead to 3-1.

St. Louis continued the onslaught in the third period, and McCrosbov scored his second goal of the game to increase the lead to 4-1. Anaheim was down, but they certainly were not out. Halfway through the third, Jerry Mander began the comeback and scored a power play goal to make it 4-2. Leonid Kofix quickly followed this up with a goal of his own, and suddenly Anaheim only trailed 4-3 with still just under 10 minutes to play. Unfortunately for the Outlaws, they weren't able to tie it up despite a minute with a 5 on 3 man advantage. The shot totals ended up 38-34 in favor of Anaheim. Scarecrows rookie Nikitnory McCrosbov was awarded the first star of the game thanks to his 2 goals, included the goal that ended up being the game winner.

Final: Scarecrows win 4-3

Game 4
St. Louis @ Anaheim (STL leads 2-1)

Game 4, still in Anaheim, with the home team down in the series 2-1. The Outlaws did not want to head back to St. Louis down 3-1 and on the brink of elimination, so as expected, they came out hot in this game. Jerry Mander scored midway through the first for the Outlaws, his second of the playoffs. Gordon Bombay doubled the Outlaws lead and made it 2-0 with a power play goal late in the period. This power play came after a frustrated rookie Aron Hernadivic made an attempt to injure an Outlaw player, and received a game misconduct for his actions. The Scarecrows, down 2-0 to start the second period, scored first as Basil Magnicotta made it a 2-1 game. The excitement on the Scarecrows bench didn't last long though. Jose Ferreira and Leonid Kofix each scored another goal for the Outlaws to inflate the lead to 4-1 at the end of the second period.

The Scarecrows had their work cut out for them going into the third, and in the end it was just too much to overcome. Nicolaj Muller managed to score a goal and make it 4-2, but that was as close as the Crows would get. The Outlaws took the win, despite being outshot 25-16. St. Louis goaltender Shiqa Vitalievich had a game to forget, as he was yanked in the second after giving up 4 goals on just 12 shots. Leonid Kofix earned the first star of the game for Anaheim after he tallied a goal and an assist.

Final: Outlaws win 4-2 Outlaws

Game 5
Anaheim @ St. Louis (series tied 2-2)

So with the series even at 2-2, the teams flew back to St. Louis for a crucial game 5. The result was an intense but quiet first period, until Richard Hurtz put the Scarecrows up 1-0 with under a minute to play. Much of the same could be said about the second period, except it was Gunnar Petrov tying the game at 1-1 with just under 2 minutes to go in the frame. The third period is where we really saw some action on both ends. Jakub Bruchevski score on a power play to put St. Louis up 2-1, but Jack Bauer tied the game for Anaheim just 6 seconds later. With the clock winding down in the third, Jerry Mander capitalized on the power play to give the Outlaws a late 3-2 lead. His goal would hold up as the game winner, as Anaheim claimed a 3-2 series lead. First star of the game was awarded to Jack Bauer for his game tying goal in the third period.

Final: Outlaws win 3-2 Outlaws

Game 6
St. Louis @ Anaheim (ANA leads 3-2)

The series moved back to Anaheim with the Outlaws a win away from moving on to the next round. This was do or die time for the Scarecrows, and things did not start off well for them. Jukka Jokinen scored just 2 minutes into the game to give the Outlaws a 1-0 lead, and that lead would stay up on the board for the rest of the first period. The Scarecrows needed to find some life, and they found it in their captain Nicolaj Muller. Muller tied the game early in the 2nd period with his third goal of the playoffs. Lallo Selman would not be outdone though, and he stole the lead right back for the Outlaws with his own third goal of the playoffs. Barrett Blackwood took matters into his own hands later in the period to tie the game back up at 2-2 with his fourth goal of the series. The latter two goals came after a fight between Anthony Banthony and Basil Magnicotta, which seemed to spark both sides as well as the crowd.

The third period came and went with the score still tied at 2-2. And then the first OT, came and went. The shot totals after 4 periods was 39-25 with Anaheim way outshooting the Scarecrows. St. Louis was going to need a lucky one to trickle into the net if they were going to keep their season alive. Of course, that's exactly what happened when Noah Brusky lit the lamp in the second OT for his second goal of the playoffs. The Scarecrows won and managed to force a game 7 after a grueling double overtime matchup. St. Louis goalie Shiqa Vitalievich was lights out, saving 39 of 41 shots, and earned himself the first star of the game.

Final: Scarecrows win 3-2 (2OT)

Game 7
Anaheim @ St. Louis (series tied 3-3)

And so it all came down to a game 7. Did you really expect anything else with a matchup between the Outlaws and the Scarecrows? This was a winner take all game, with the winner moving on to take on either Kelowna or Detroit and the loser going back home to rest up and prepare for the WJC. The Scarecrows chance to face off against Detroit, and they came out hungrier to start game 7. Blackwood scored his fifth of the series to put the Scarecrows up 1-0, and rookie Aron Hernadivic scored his first to make it 2-0 at the end of the first period.

Anaheim made sure not to let that lead sit for long in the second, as James Hendricks scored just 3 minutes into the period to cut the deficit in half. Mika Kandinsky score for St. Louis just 14 seconds later however, and reestablished the 2 goal lead at 3-1. Again, the Outlaws refused to fall out of this game. Jerry Mander scored on the power play to make it 3-2, and Kevin Robinson drew things even at 3-3 with just 2 minutes left in the second period.

With both the series and the game tied at 3-3, it all came down to the third and final period. The fifth year SMJHL veteran, Basil Magnicotta, gave the Scarecrows an early lead while on the power play just a minute into the period. The Outlaws just couldn't sneak one past Vitalievich in the third though, despite having a late power play in the last 5 minutes of the game. Magnicotta's goal would hold up as the game winner, and the series clincher. The Scarecrows had defeated the Outlaws and were moving on to the next round of the playoffs. Scarecrows defender Noah Brusky would earn first star of the game for his two assists in the contest.

Final: Scarecrows win 4-3

Series Final: Scarecrows win 4-3

2000+ words

*thiefofcheese* · 09-06-2019, 02:00 PM

GG Crows

*fishy* · 09-06-2019, 04:24 PM

09-06-2019, 01:57 PMBrewskyBoy Wrote:
Wild Card Recap: #8 St. Louis Scarecrows vs. #9 Anaheim Outlaws

This power play came after a frustrated rookie Aron Hernadivic made an attempt to injure an Outlaw player, and received a game misconduct for his actions.

what a fckn goon someone come get their rookie

Huck24 · 09-06-2019, 09:46 PM

Great series and great recap!

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