Blackstone Knights goaltender Kenzie MacPhail readies for a shot while defenceman Keenan Gillis keeps his goalie’s sight line clear during Saturday’s Senior A playoff game against the County in Membertou.
-by Bill Dunphy
How do you eat an elephant?
One bite at a time.
That sports adage comes from when a team is down in a series, and it doesn’t look good, that you can’t win that series all at once – you do it one bite, one shift, one period and one game at time.
That’s the path the Cape Breton West Blacktstone Knights put themselves on this weekend by winning back-to-back games to tie their best-of-five Cape Breton Senior A championship series 2-2 with the Cape Breton County Islanders.
With two dominant wins to start the series, the County was poised to wrap up the series in game three Saturday at Membertou.
Twenty guys in the other dressing room had a different idea.
Randon MacKinnon got things going at 7:22 of the first period with the Knights first goal, banging home a rebound on his own shot with Craig Ryan and Matthew MacNeil on the forecheck to pick up assists.
Ryan, however, took a roughing penalty after the goal and the Islanders responded with a powerplay goal at 8:42.
Stephen Fox restored the Knights lead before the end of the period, finishing a two-on-one with Matt Ellis on a play started in their own end by defenceman Liam Trenholm.
The 2-1 lead held through the second period, due in large part to some outstanding goaltending by Kenzie MacPhail that even had the Cape Breton County fans oohing and aahing after saves that they thought were about to be goals.
Three minutes into the third, Matt Raike found himself alone with the puck down low on the right side and fired a pinpoint wrister to the long side of Colin Hooper’s net to score what would turn out to be the game-winner.
The County pressed hard to get back into the game but MacPhail held his ground until 16:40 when a tip on a point shot cut the Knights’ lead to 3-2.
The County pulled their goaltender with a minute-and-a-half left but couldn’t score the equalizer.
Shots on goal were 33-30 in favour of the Islanders.
With their party plans ruined, the County was forced to come back to Port Hood on Easter Sunday for game four at the Al MacInnis Sports Centre.
This time the County struck first, taking advantage of a defensive breakdown that allowed Nathaniel Fuller to step out from the back of the net untouched to slip a backhander past MacPhail.
The Knights had to kill a penalty to start the second period that was carried over from the first. Getting back to even strength, Ryan fired a shot through traffic to tie the game 1-1 at 1:44. Fox and defenceman Drew MacDonald picked up assists, but Cody Hinkley was instrumental in keeping the play alive in the County zone.
A four-on-four midway through the second saw the Islanders regain the lead on a two-man rush that saw Bailey drive to the net to finish a nice pass from Logan O’Neil.
The 2-1 County lead carried over into the third and it wasn’t until 11:10 when a point shot by Trenholm got through a screen for MacNeil to redirect it off the goalie’s stick and in for the tying goal. Trenholm’s linemate on the blueline, Keenan Gillis, also got an assist.
Regulation time ran out and a 10-minute overtime followed without flooding the ice.
Each side had some chances, and while MacPhail was up to the challenge, Travis King pitched in by sacrificing his body on a big blocked shot in the slot.
Knights coach Kyle Gillies was forced to burn his time out at 7:02 when an icing call kept his players on the ice after a long shot.
The ploy worked and the first overtime period ended, setting up a second 20-minute overtime after the flood.
This time around there was no fooling around by the Knights. With MacKinnon winning the opening faceoff, MacNeil got a shot away down low and the rebound came out to Trenholm pinching on the right side and his deadly shot found the back of the net at the 28-second mark to give the Knights a 3-2 win.
MacPhail faced 42 shots for the win, with the Knights getting 39 on the County net.
Some minor theatrics followed the overtime goal, with a County player slap-shotting Ryan’s stick down the ice. While there was no penalty assessed to the County player for his lack of sportsmanship, Ryan received a gross misconduct penalty for giving the player a middle-finger salute, which the refs felt was enough to end Ryan’s season.
After the game, Liam Trenholm said scoring the game-winner in double overtime at home was a special moment in his career.
“Nothing better than scoring!” he said. “I was happy to do it in Port Hood. There are people not in the rink tonight who may not understand how important it was to these guys to win this game. There are guys in that room with bruises, injuries, and playing in pain.
“It’s playoff hockey and we’re bringing it back to Sydney!”
Trenholm said the team played with confidence with MacPhail between the pipes.
“Kenzie’s a gamer and we knew what we were getting when they signed him. He bailed me out in the first overtime and I’m glad we won it for him.”
MacPhail said a real bond has formed among the players which made the difference in tying the series.
“Bringing them (the County) back here and to beat them on home ice, that’s what makes it so much better. Being there for each other means a lot. Liam and I are great buddies and the friendships you make with guys you never played with before are what it’s all about.”
MacPhail said he credits the players in front of him for helping him do his job.
“The guys are sacrificing their body blocking shots which is huge. The County has a good team and we have to bring the same mindset that won us these two games back to Sydney,” he said.
“Game five” doesn’t have the same ring to it as “Game seven” but the feeling’s the same – it’s a do-or-die game and everything’s on the line this Saturday, 8 p.m., at the Membertou Arena.