“It took more than 60 minutes,” Joe Blandisi he told marlies.ca after Game 2 last night.
Sixty minutes and 50 seconds, to be exact.
The Marlies pulled out a 4-3 win Dylan GambrellThe overtime count ended the visiting Belleville Senators, forcing a Game 3 on Sunday at CAA Arena for the right to face Cleveland in the North Division semifinals.
It was an amazing victory for the Marlies, who lost 3-1 to two goals by Belleville. Garrett Pilon – the second coming with 20 seconds left in regulation after Blandisi missed a point-blank chance up front.
The night had its frustrations, and it may have been the night of the season finale. But the Marlies stuck with it.
“Everybody can bail out,” continued Blandisi. “That's why I love playing for this team. There are a lot of good characters in that dressing room, and we have each other's backs. I knew right away, just the positive talk that happened in the locker room after the (third) period. Nobody was tough on me… Those are the positive reinforcements you need, and they go a long way in the team's dressing room.”
It was Blandisi who stopped Gambrell's goal in the first minute of overtime.
“He played a great game,” head coach Marlies John Gruden said. “If he doesn't play that great game, we're not in that place in the first place. We believed in him. He's the leader of our team, and for him to come out the way he did on that first shift in overtime… He created all of that. It couldn't have happened to a better guy.”
Now the Marlies have a chance for a winner-take-all matchup in the AHL's version of the Battle of Ontario.
“It will take 20 men,” said Blandisi.
“It could take more than 60 minutes, and we know that.”
The Coachella Valley Firebirds found an opponent for their Pacific Division Semifinal series last night – and a high prospect.
Coachella Valley will face the Calgary Wranglers, and joining the Firebirds will be next Eduard Salé. Taken 23rd overall by the Seattle Kraken in last June's NHL Draft, Šalé was assigned after the conclusion of his season with Kitchener of the Ontario Hockey League.
Seattle also sent a defender Ryker Evans return to the Firebirds in the postseason. After being promoted to the Coachella Valley, he ended up playing 36 games for the Kraken and contributed nine points (one goal, eight assists). Last season's Calder Cup finalist has added four more players to Seattle's growing lineup of forward prospects. Andrei Loshko again Carson Rehkopf and defenders Kaden Hammell again Caden price.
Coachella Valley and Calgary begin their series next Friday at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
― with files from Patrick Williams
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