2020 EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMI FINAL

Brentwood Bandits

#1 Jagr Mullets  (60-20-2) vs. #3 Brentwood Bandits HC (48-27-7)
GAME #1 at Jagr The Mullets absolutely dominate play, outshooting Brentwood 14-4 in the first – where Auston Matthews (4) picks up a PP goal at 14:26 to make it 1-0 Mullets.

Jagr continues its strong play in the 2nd, with the teams combining on only 13 combined shots. Unfortunately, one was a breakaway by Debrusk (5) at 18:29 of the period to tie it up. Nothing worse than giving up late goals!

In the 3rd, Tavares (6) stuns the home crowd and gives the Bandits a 2-1 lead.

But as is often the case in playoff hockey – heroes are born from the bottom 6. In this case, Jaden Schwartz (1) beats Vasilevskiy at 11:50 to tie it back up!

We stay scoreless through the period and we’re in SUDDEN DEATH!

In the extra period, the Mullets again dominate the Bandits 9-2 in shots but no one can put one in.

So we go to 2 OT!

Not a lot of drama, as Debrusk (6) slips another one behind Kuemper to shock the home crowd and Brentwood steals the first game 3-2 (2OT).

The Mullets outshoot (46-22), out-hit (41-32), and out scoring-attempt (23-11) the Bandits, but drop the game anyway.

Scoring Summary
Per Time Str Team
1 14:26 PP JAG Matthews (4), assisted by Bergeron (7) and McDonagh (4)
2 18:29 EV BWB Debrusk (5), unassisted
3 4:28 EV BWB Tavares (6), assisted by Kessel (9)
3 11:50 EV JAG Schwartz (1), assisted by Sundqvist (4) and Svechnikov (2)
5 1:02 EV BWB Debrusk (6), assisted by Kerfoot (5) and Moore (3)

Star 1: BWB Debrusk 2 G
Star 2: BWB Vasilevskiy 44 saves
Star 3: BWB Tavares 1 G

GWG: Jake Debrusk

Notables: BWB Vasilevskiy 44 saves
JAG Rielly 5 blocks, Bergeron 17 faceoffs won

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GAME #2 at Jagr The Mullets can’t afford to go down 0-2, and they don’t – winning it 2-1 behind a strong bounce-back game from Kuemper. Matthews (5) and Ekholm (1) score in the 1st for the Mullets, and it stays that way until Vatrano (3) puts one in at 8:25 of the 3rd. The Mullets hold on and the series is tied up 1-1.

Scoring Summary
Per Time Str Team
1 9:21 EV JAG Matthews (5), assisted by Tkachuk (5) and Lindholm (3)
1 18:06 EV JAG Ekholm (1), assisted by Couture (3) and Parise (1)
3 8:25 EV BWB Vatrano (3), assisted by Braun (6) and Niederreiter (3)

Star 1: JAG Matthews 1 G
Star 2: JAG Ekholm 1 G
Star 3: BWB Murray 39 saves

GWG: Mattias Ekholm

Notables: BWB Murray 39 saves
JAG Bergeron 15 faceoffs won

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SUMMARY: We go to Brentwood tied up at 1-1 hoping we can steal a game on the road to make it a best of three series.

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PREVIEW: The Brotherly Brawl… The Sanguine Showdown… The Sibling… uh… I got nothing.

The Bandits managed to steal a win in Jagr. Can we take advantage of the home ice advantage now?

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GAME #3 at Brentwood 37 seconds into the game, Bergeron gets his 5th of the playoffs and the Mullets are ready to roll.

Until Konecny (5) matches Bergeron less than a minute later.

Bandits on the PP… they give up a breakaway to McDonagh… should be no prob– he shoots and scores! His 1st of the playoffs. Vasilevskiy has got some ‘splainin’ to do!

Go to the 2nd with the Mullets up 2-1.

1:26 into the 2nd sees Kerfoot (3) tie it at 2!

Then on the PP, last year’s Conn Smythe winner, Phil the Thrill Kessel (3) gives the Bandits their first lead of the game! 3-2.

To the 3rd we go… and the Jagoffs mean business.

Staal (2), Bergeron (6), and Couture (3) with the empty netter to seal the deal with a 5-3 Mullet win!

It was a pretty even game…

JAG 34 shots, BWB 32 shots
JAG 27 FOW, BWB 28 FOW
JAG 33 hits, BWB 17 hits
JAG 15 blocks, BWB 18 blocks
JAG missed the net 9 times, BWB missed the net 17 times
JAG 13 scoring chances, BWB 18 scoring chances
JAG NO PP CHANCES, BWB 1-4 on the PP

Star 1 Bergeron 2 G
Star 2 Staal 1 G, 2 pts
Star 3 Couture 1 G

Notables:
JAG Bergeron 15 Faceoffs Won
BWB Brodie 5 blocks

Gibson made 29 saves
Vasilevskiy also made 29 saves

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GAME #4 at Brentwood The Bandits are down 2-1 in the series. Can they win to send it back to Jagr evened up?

43 seconds in, Radulov (3) puts the Mullets on top 1-0.

Head to the 2nd, and 12 seconds in Tavares (7) on the PP ties it 1-1.

Matthews (6) makes it 2-1 Mullets.

Head to the 3rd period…
JAG on the PP… Rielly (4) makes it 3-1!

Then the Bandits go to work…

Johnson (2) scores at the 6 minute mark, 3-2 Mullets.

Then at 13:35 Galchenyuk (4) ties the game 3-3!!

We head to OT for the 2nd time in the series!!

A little back and forth… even play.

Until Debrusk (7) puts it into the back of the net for the 4-3 OT victory to send it back to Jagr all knotted up 2-2!!

JAG 35 shots, BWB 33 shots
JAG 29 FOW, BWB 30 FOW
JAG 25 hits, BWB 27 hits
JAG 18 blocks, BWB 21 blocks
JAG missed the net 16 times, BWB missed the net 16 times
JAG 22 scoring chances, BWB 18 scoring chances
JAG 1-3 on the PP, BWB 1-2 on the PP

Star 1 Galchenyuk 1 G, 2 pts
Star 2 Johnson 1 G, 2 pts
Star 3 Debrusk 1 G

Notables:
JAG Letang 5 blocks, Bergeron 18 Faceoffs Won
BWB Vasilevskiy 32 saves

Gibson made 29 saves
Vasilevskiy made 32 saves

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SUMMARY: With both Bandit wins coming in OT, they are earning a new nickname… The Cardiac Kids!

Back to Jagr with the series tied…

Coach Tom Atkins was all smiles at the press conference. He was quoted as saying “We beat a great team… twice… in overtime. I think we have proved to be a worthy defending champion.”

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GAME #5 at Jagr The teams trade goals in the first, with Brentwood outshooting the Mullets 16-10.

But in the 2nd, the ice tilts Jagr’s way – as they put 21 shots on goal to only 8 for Brentwood. Three of those go in for JAG, but two find the back of the net for BWB! So after 2, it’s a 4-3 barnburner in favor of Jagr.

Then disaster strikes for Brentwood – Vasilevskiy melts down and surrenders a PP goal just a minute into the 3rd, and then lets Tkachuk sneak one past 33 seconds later. Just like that, it’s 6-4 Mullets.

The Bandits don’t quit, and score at 5:39 to make it a one goal game. But a 5 minute elbowing major to Kerfoot costs them dearly as Ovechkin scores with the man advantage to make it 7-5. Bergeron scores his 7th of the playoffs at 12:38 to chase Vasilevskiy and seal an 8-4 victory that was much closer than the score indicates.

Scoring Summary
Per Time Str Team
1 5:57 PP BWB Kessel (4), assisted by Pavelski (6) and Josi (8)
1 16:48 EV JAG Ovechkin (3), assisted by Bergeron (9) and Radulov (5)
2 3:00 EV JAG Parise (5), assisted by Weber (5) and Couture (4)
2 8:39 PP JAG Matthews (7), unassisted
2 11:56 EV BWB Kessel (5), assisted by Tavares (7) and Pavelski (7)
2 14:08 SH JAG Staal (3), unassisted
2 16:22 PP BWB Tavares (8), assisted by Pavelski (8) and Kessel (10)
3 1:00 PP JAG Couture (4), assisted by Ekholm (6) and Radulov (6)
3 1:22 EV JAG Tkachuk (4), assisted by Letang (5)
3 5:39 EV BWB Galchenyuk (5), assisted by Horvat (4) and Vlasic (6)
3 10:48 PP JAG Ovechkin (4), assisted by Bergeron (10) and Pulock (4)
3 12:38 EV JAG Bergeron (7), assisted by Radulov (7) and Rielly (6)

Star 1: BWB Kessel 2 G, 3 Pts
Star 2: JAG Ovechkin 2 G
Star 3: JAG Couture 1 G, 2 Pts

GWG: Logan Couture

Notables: BWB Vasilevskiy 36 saves, Johnson 5 blocks, Pavelski 3 assists
JAG Radulov 3 assists, Kuemper 43 saves, Bergeron 21 faceoffs won

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SUMMARY: We go back to Brentwood for Game 6, with a team facing elimination for the first time in the series.

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PREVIEW: We head back to Brentwood for Game 6 with the Bandits facing elimination against the powerhouse Jagr Mullets!

“The Brotherly Battle, Pt. 6” is… NEXT!

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GAME #6 at Brentwood The crowd is ecstatic! The air is electric! The Defending Cup Champs face elimination!

We go to the faceoff circle…

1st Period
Back and forth… no shots registered for either team until around the 12 minute mark when Jagr finally registers a shot! Head back down the ice, the Bandits register their first shot!

On the Bandits 2nd shot of the game, Bo Horvat (3) drills how a slapper past former Bandit Kuemper to give Brentwood the 1-0 lead!

**there are a TON of players on each team who played for the other, so in the interest of saving time and finger strength (typing), just assume that when a player is mentioned, there is a 40-50% chance they once played for the other team.

BACK TO THE GAME!

The Bandits get a PP toward the end of the period as Weber goes off for cross-checking at 18:29.

With 1 second left… ONE SECOND… Debrusk fires home a wicked wrista past Kuemper to give the Bandits a commanding 2-0 lead to close out the first.

Goals scored in the last minute, we call them ball-breaking goals. Goals scored at the absolute last second? Well, I think they just might break both balls.

Head to the 2nd…
Midway through, the Bandits on the PP again, only this time Bergeron (8) gets the shorty! Mullets on the board! 2-1 Bandits still lead.

Three minutes later, Schwartz (2) shocks the crowd as the Mullets tie the game 2-2!

And just like that, it’s a game again.

Into the 3rd period we go… will this be the final period of the season for the Bandits? Or will they force a game 7 at Jagr? Let’s find out!

At 5:51 Bandits on the PP again (they would get 5 PP chances total), and this time “Chief” Brodie (1) gets his first of the playoffs to break the tie and put the Bandits up 3-2!

A little over 3 minutes later, Galchenyuk (6), now on the 4th line, continues to score no matter what line he plays on! Bandits take a commanding 4-2 lead…

But, this IS the playoffs… and the Mullets WERE the best team in the league this season…

15:33 – Bergeron (9) continues his Conne Smyth campaign getting the Mullets within one! 4-3 Bandits lead.

17:39 – Rielly (5) scores on the wrister through traffic to tie it 4-4!!

Some good chances in both ends as time expires and we head to OT!!

One goal can end the Bandits season… or it can force a Game 7.

Bandits get two GREAT chances but Kuemper makes equally great saves. Tavares at point blank… ugh!

Not to be out-done, Vasilevskiy makes 2 great saves in a flurry of shots from the Mullets!

Then it happened…

A pass to the right faceoff circle, a shot… and HE SCORES!!!

Who was it that scored???

The Big Pavelski makes his former team pay (sorry I HAD to type it this time!) and the Bandits win it in OT 5-4 to send the series to a decisive Game 7!!!

Wow… my blood pressure can’t take much more! 😉

Scoring Summary
Per Time Str Team
1 9:55 EV BWB Horvat (3), assisted by Moore (4) and Vatrano (1)
1 19:59 PP BWB Debrusk (8), assisted by Konecny (5)
2 9:00 SH JAG Bergeron (8), assisted by McDonagh (5) and Weber (6)
2 12:09 EV JAG Schwartz (2), assisted by Svechnikov (3) and Sundqvist (5)
3 5:51 PP BWB Brodie (1), assisted by Tavares (8) and Kessel (11)
3 8:46 EV BWB Galchenyuk (6), assisted by Vlasic (7) and Johnson (5)
3 15:33 EV JAG Bergeron (9), assisted by Radulov (8) and Ovechkin (7)
3 17:39 EV JAG Rielly (5), assisted by Bergeron (11) and Radulov (9)
4 6:10 EV BWB Pavelski (7), assisted by Kessel (12) and Tavares (9)

Penalty Summary
Per Time Team
1 18:29 JAG Weber (4), 2:00 – cross checking
2 7:39 JAG Lindholm (6), 2:00 – tripping
2 13:09 JAG Weber (6), 2:00 – hooking
2 17:08 JAG Ovechkin (6), 2:00 – holding
3 5:16 JAG Radulov (12), 2:00 – roughing

SOG 1 SOG 2 SOG 3 SOG 4
Jagr 3 5 13 2
Brentwood 6 11 10 4

JAG BWB
SOG 23 31
FOW 26 22
FO% 54.2 45.8
Hits 26 24
Blocks 15 14
Missed Net 11 23
Shot Attempts 48 69
Scoring Chances 14 13
PIM 10 0
PP 0-0 2-5
TOA 2:56 4:24

Star 1: JAG Bergeron 2 G, 3 Pts
Star 2: BWB Debrusk 1 G
Star 3: BWB Brodie 1 G

GWG: Joe Pavelski

Notables: JAG None
BWB None

Jagr GA SV Save% TOI W L OL Rate
G Kuemper -OL 5 26 .839 66:10 6 3 1 9.1 (+0.7)

Brentwood GA SV Save% TOI W L OL Rate
G Vasilevskiy -W 4 19 .826 66:10 6 4 1 8.7 (+0.3)

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SUMMARY: What a game!! We head back to Jagr to see what our fate will be!

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PREVIEW: And we’re back on home ice for Game 7 – will it be a classic, or a classic choke?

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GAME #7 at Jagr Kris Letang does Kris Letang things, taking a dumb hooking penalty at 4:26 of the first.

Who else but Debrusk (9) makes the Mullets pay. Debrusk means money in 47 different languages (or so I hear).

Then at 10:36, Lars freakin’ Eller (1) beats Kuemper to make it an early 2-0 Bandit lead.

Debrusk sticks a huge dagger into the collective Mullet heart when he scores AGAIN at 19:16 of the 1st for his 10th goal of the playoffs.

And we go to the 1st intermission down 3-0.

In the 2nd period, Jagr throws the kitchen sink, baby, bathwater, and anything else they can get their gloved mitts on at Vasilevskiy, outshooting Brentwood 18-6. Fortunately, two go in – Matthews (8) at 7:16 and Lindholm (7) a little over two minutes later.

We go to the locker rooms down a goal – 3-2 Brentwood.

In the final period, Phil Kessel does Phil Kessel things – and takes a delay of game penalty at 9:27.

This is where we turn the tide of the game, right?

Nah.

Mullets suck again on the PP (going 0-4 in this game) and Brentwood unpuckers their collective… you get the idea.

We get down to 90 seconds, and Kuemper comes out of the net…

Weber hits the post!

Matthews shoots wide!

Ovechkin hits the goalie!

Bergeron hits the mascot and gets a free steak!

The Mullets hit everything but the back of the net, and the Bandits pull of the upset and clip the Mullets 3-2 to take the series and advance to the Finals!

Twice we had a chance to eliminate my brother, and twice we failed. So you can’t say anything except it was well earned, and good luck in the Finals (again)!

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SUMMARY: Another great season; thanks to league management for all of your hard work. We truly thought this was our year, but faced two extra tough challenges in the playoffs.

With a heavy roster turnover expected, we’ll see if we can make the cut next year.

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