2018 EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS

Brew Jackets Blizzard

Columbus Brew Jackets vs. Hampton Blizzard

Game #1 Hampton wins !

Hampton 2, Columbus 1

Game #2 Columbus wins !

Columbus 4, Hampton 2

  Series tied at 1-1 going into Columbus.
Game #3 Columbus scores the next 5 goals, 3 in the 1st, 2 of them by Carlo (3, 4). Ladd (3) was the 1st of the 3.
With 10 minutes to go, Lee (6) gets his 2nd goal of the game, but it was too little to late.So the team with most shots and shot attempts scores the lesser amount of goals.STARS:
1. CBJ – Carlo 2 goals, 1 assist
2. HAM – Lee 2 goals
3. CBJ – Burns 1 goal But it should have been Budaj as he shut down the Blizzard – that and 18 blocked shots.

Columbus 5, Hampton 2

Game #4 Game time and all of a sudden Anti Raanta jumps over the boards and pushes Price aside – and then the Blizzard management says – Go Fin!, you got this one. Well apparently the Fin had a game in him! He also had Malkin AND LEE!
Just over a minute, Lee (7) scores another goal. Then 4 minutes in, Malkin (2) makes it 2-0. But just over a minute left in the 1st and Steward scores for the Brew Jackets to cut it to 2-1. Then Stewart gets called for roughing early in the 2nd and lo and behold Miller sneaks past the Blizzard, gets a pass from Strome and scores a short-handed goal to TIE the game. But then Raanta kicks in. When the Jackets were down 2-0, they kicked in a big time offensive gear, firing 16 in the 1st and 10 in the 2nd (that were on goal) – he stoned 24 of them.
And then in the 2nd, Malkin nets his 2nd goal of the and 3rd of the playoffs.With the score 3-2 when the 3rd starts, Hampton gets their game on. Larkin (1) puts one past Budaj within the first 2 minutes. Columbus yanks Budaj and inserts Chad Johnson. It works – well until Edmundson gets a 4 minute penalty for high sticking. 27 seconds into the the 1st two minutes Forsberg (1) gets the PP for his first goal of the playoffs. The 5-2 lead looked insurmountable but then Kucherov (4) scores one with 1:18 to go (with an extra attacker on the ice). But Raanta and the Blizzard defense smothered the Jackets to seal the deal.Really the Blizzard seemed totally in control in this one even though they were out shot, lost the Face-off battle but they dominated in the hits and blocks and won the game. Seems to be a regular pattern in this series. Final 5-3 Hampton

STARS (all Hampton)
1. Malkin 2 goals
2. Forsberg 1 goal, 2 assists
3. Lee 1 goal
But you might want to say Raanta (34 saves – Notable) was a star (and management for making the change).

Hampton 5, Columbus 3

  Splits at both sites have the series 2-2 after 4 games. Back to Hampton for game 5.

Columbus – Hampton, tied after 4, so it’s on to the best of 3. And it will take 7 and then some!!!!

Game #5 This game was all Brew Jackets – well it seemed that way for awhile. First period Stome (2) scores 1 minute into the game. 2 minutes into the 2nd and Kucherov (5) does a wraparound to make it 2-0. 3 minutes later, he does it again (6). Then he went for the hat trick with the another wraparound, but Price finally caught on.

Game was being force by Hampton – out shooting the Brew Jackets in every period, but Budaj was stopping everything and the rope-a-dope defense wasn’t letting much of anything good get through – plus 20 blocked shots.

But then the 3rd period came and Backlund (2) takes a pass from Lee and just rockets it past Budaj – he had to watch the replay to see it and it was 3-1 with 11 minutes to go. But the Jackets regrouped and held tough – until the Blizzard pulled Price. Then with Malkin on the ice working with Lee, he feeds Lee the puck and with 1:19 to go, Lee gets his 8th post season goal to make it 3-2 Columbus. And of course, Price was done (for now anyway). More shots, then more blocks and saves and when the time ran out, Columbus was still ahead, 3-2 for the final.
STARS (all Brew Jackets)
1. Kucherov – 2 goals
2. Budaj – 37 saves
3. Strome – 1 goal

Columbus 3, Hampton 2

Game #6 This game was like a bi-polar polar bear. One team jumps out, then the other, then the first team storms back, then the other, then …..

Jackets opened the scoring early with Stalberg (2) putting one past Price 3 minutes in. But Point (1) returns the favor 3 minutes later and the 1st period ends 1-1. And it was evenly played.

But 18 seconds into period 2, Gostisbehere (2) gets the Blizzard up 2-1.
But, this is where the game swings big time. 7:13 Couture (2) ties it up, the a minute and a half later, Burns (3) scores to give the Beer boys a 3-2 lead. Then Backlund gets flagged for cross-checking and Kucherov (7) gets the PP goal and it’s 4-2 Columbus.
But, there’s more 2nd period scoring and another mood swing. Vesey gets called for roughing at 16:29 and Malkin (4) finds the back of the net 33 seconds later. It could have been worse, 16 seconds after the PP goal, Burns gets the 2 minute penalty for hooking, but the Brew crew holds fast. But we are still in a mood swing …

3rd period – with the score 4-3 Columbus, the Blizzard keep scoring. 3 minutes in and it’s Burakovsky (2). Then 7 minutes in it’s Dvorak (3) and suddenly the Blizzard have a 5-4 lead!
But wait – the Jackets take the next face-off, move it over the blue line and Stewart (2) puts the biscuit in the basket to tie it up, 17 seconds after the Blizzard took the lead, whew!! It’s 5-5 and there is still 11:49 to go in regulation.
Up and down, blocked shots, big saves, and nothing until Point (who), Point gets his 2nd goal of the post-season AND GAME with 3 and 1/2 to go. Columbus’s hopes of putting it away AT HOME in 6 are getting dim.
BUT – they pull Johnson (he came in after the 2nd Point goal) and fire away at Price, but no doing and then the Blizzard clear the puck and Backlund gets an empty netter with just over a minute to go to make the final 7-5 Hampton.

As has been normal, the Blizzard outshot the Brew Jackets 40-30 and attempts 70-58, but chances were almost even.
STARS (all Blizzard)
1. Point – 2 goals, 1 assist boy where did he come from
2. Gostisbehere – 1 goal, 2 assists
3. Dvorak – 1 goal, 2 assists

Hampton 7, Brentwood 5

Game #7 So – there will be a game 7 in Hampton. Everything is on the line and this game was a classic!

PERIOD 1 – Hampton outshoots the Brew Jackets 12-5, but Columbus outscores the Blizzard 2-1. After the opening face-off, Burns (4)takes a pass from Strome and Miller and fires it past a befuddled Price to make it 1-0. 3 minutes later Miller (3) deflects a Strome attempt and makes it 2-0 Columbus. Jackets want the game.
But … Burns commits a sin (rough) at 15:25 and Forsberg (2) makes him pay with a PP goal setup by McCabe and Malkin. Period end 2-1 Columbus.

PERIOD 2
5 minutes into the period, all-everything Evengi Malkin proves he CAN DO SOME WRONG when he’s called for tripping (most of the time the refs have not been seeing stuff, but they saw this one). While he watched from the sin bin, Couture (3) score a textbook PP goal setup by Sheary and Kucherov, 3-1 Columbus.
BUT we can’t end the period that way. Forsberg (3) who had been awfully silent up until now, scores his 2nd of the game, assisted by that Malkin guy with 6 and 1/2 to go to cut it to 3-2 and then Ekman-Larsson (2) ties it up 38 seconds later. End of 2 it’s 3-3.

3RD PERIOD
Brew Jackets wanted this game, and they wanted it in regulation and they fired 18 shots on Price, but with 1 minute to go, it was still a 3-3 game. The tension on the ice had been mounting with every up and down the ice. Shots fired, blocks (22 in the game by Columbus), hits (16 by Hampton, 15 by Columbus in the game), saves, nothing. No one was going to let anything get in the net. Then that guy who has been putting things in the net all post season – Lee – got the garbage goal (9) that put the Blizzard up 4-3 as he fought for the puck after Backlund’s attempt didn’t make it. And the goal was scored with 28 seconds left on the clock!! Home town crowd erupts….
BUT – oh, there always seems to be a but. And remember, this was touted as a classic and while that goal with 28 seconds to goal sounds rather classic, it ain’t over til it’s over.
Down 4-3, 28 seconds to go, the Brew Jackets give Budaj a rest. 6 skaters on, Miller the extra attacker and he sends one to Couture as Columbus controls the face-off and moves into Blizzard territory, Couture shovels it to Sheary and he bangs it home (4) to tie the game with 7 seconds left. Two goals in the last 28 seconds of the 3rd and we go to Sudden Death for game 7 with the score tied 4-4!!!!!

OT begins and the Brew Jackets continue to ride the high emotions and carry the play to the Blizzard end. They take a few shots and get 2 on net in the first minute. Hampton finally clears it and gets a shot on net that Budaj stops, but then the Blizzard control the rebound and Larkin (2) puts in the game and series WINNER at 1:36 and it’s all over. For the Blizzard they were fortunate enough to do this at home so their crowd could enjoy it. Odd stat – the Jackets outshot the Blizzard 43-39, and matched them in hits and killed them in blocks, but not in goals and that’s where it counts.
STARS

1. HAM: Forsberg 2 goals
2. CBJ: Miller 1 goal, 2 assists
3. HAM: Larkin 1 goal, 1 assist and that one goal was the BIGGIE

Both goalies were recognized for their performances – Budaj 34 saves, Price a big 39 saves

Hampton 5, Brentwood 4 (OT)

Series Summary: So in a classic 7 game matchup, it took OT in game 7 before Hampton finally Eastern title and moves on to the Stanley Cup. Both Hampton and Columbus came for the 2nd place spots to this series, and now the Blizzard will carry the torch for the Stanley Cup. Lee (9 goals, 5 assists – 14 points) and Malkin (4 goals, 7 assists – 11 points) lead the charge.
Congrats to Dan Schindel for putting together a tough Columbus team.