Ice Flyers Miss Ground-Gaining Opportunity In Loss To Quad City
By Bill Vilona
Ice Flyers.com Correspondent
The Ice Flyers figured to have an edge in a quest to gain ground in their weekend series against the team ahead for the final playoff spot.
That’s what made Saturday’s 3-0 loss against the Quad City Storm so baffling to Ice Flyers coach Rod Aldoff.
“This was not the team I had seen since coaching them,” said Aldoff, who returned on February 21 for his third return behind the bench.
After coming back from a two-goal deficit to win Friday’s game, the Ice Flyers again fell behind 2-0 in the second period Saturday, only to come up empty in a deflating loss before a crowd of 4,491 at the Pensacola Bay Center on St. Patrick’s Celebration Night.
There was no four-leaf clover found. Just the opposite. The weekend split kept the Ice Flyers seven points behind the Storm for eighth place, but now with just seven games left in the regular season.
“We just didn’t have legs, we weren’t moving, we weren’t getting to pucks, we weren’t supporting the puck,” Aldoff said. “In the third period there were spurts that were better, but you can’t play one period or 10 minutes and win a game.
“First period (Friday) we had no legs, which I understood because we had a goofy schedule with very little ice and no games last week. “I somewhat expected it might take a period to get into and we did. I expected much better legs (Saturday).”
Instead they were outshot 15-7 in the first period and trailed 1-0. Less than five minutes into the second period, a game-defining sequence occurred.
Quad City defenseman Dillon Fournier was assessed a major penalty (5 minutes) and ejected on a game misconduct for a vicious cross check against the Ice Flyers Sam Dombrowski who crumbled against the boards.
But the five-minute power play became a turning point. The Storm’s Leif Mattison, the league’s second-leading scorer, got a zone clearing pass from former Ice Flyers’ forward Weiland Parrish and turned a breakaway into a shorthanded goal for a 2-0 lead with 13:53 left in the period.
The crowd in the Bay Center groaned and the Ice Flyers never found a spark.
In the third period, the Ice Flyers had several good looks, but couldn’t get a goal, which forced pulling Ice Flyers goaltender AJ Ruskowski with 1:46 left. The Storm forced a turnover in the Ice Flyers zone and got an empty net goal with 51.5 seconds left to end the game.
“I have not seen that (Ice Flyers) team play yet,” Aldoff said. “The rest of the games we’ve played, I’ve been impressed. The guys have pounded and worked. I thought the first weekend (Feb. 21-23 when he returned to coach) we deserved six points. The work ethic was there. The execution was there.
“(Saturday) we had nothing. We were spinning our wheels.”
The Ice Flyers will play three home games next weekend, beginning Friday against the Birmingham Bulls and ending with a Sunday game against first-place Peoria.
After losing six of their last seven games, the Ice Flyers will need to win six of their last seven and get help to have a realistic chance of overcoming Quad City.
“We’re not out of it,” Aldoff said. “But this was a four-point swing (Saturday).”
Here’s a quick recap.
First Period
Before getting tossed from the game, Fournier assisted on the first Quad City goal. He set up Nick Pennucci, who fired a wrist shot through traffic into the upper right corner of the net with 15:10 left in the period.
The Ice Flyers killed the only penalty in the first period.
Making his fourth start, Ice Flyers goaltender Ruskowski stopped 14 shots in the period dominated by the Storm.
Second Period
The Ice Flyers outshot Quad City 12-2 in this period, aided by the five-minute power play, but could not get a tying goal.
Fournier’s penalty was the only one of the period.
Third Period
There were several sequences where the Ice Flyers swarmed the net, but could not get a rebound shot past Quad City goaltender Brent Moran who stopped all 28 shots he faced.
GAME NOTABLES
The St. Patrick’s Celebration Night was sponsored by McGuire’s Irish Pub. The Ice Flyers wore specialty jerseys for St. Patrick’s Day and had replica merchandise sold at the two stands.
Rich McDuff, a McGuire’s Irish Pub Performer, produced the National Anthem.
Amy Martin, a partner in the McGuire’s Management Group, was recognized with a ceremonial puck drop.
The McGuire’s famed BagPipe band entertained fans outside the Bay Center and during both intermissions.
Ed Flanagan, a long-time U.S. Marine Corps member, was honored as the Pen Air Center Ice Hero before the game.
Ice Flyers owner Greg Harris presented a $60,000 check to Rally Foundation-Gulf Coast during the first intermission. The organization was the Ice Flyers charity of the month.
WANT TO GO?
WHAT: Ice Flyers Final Weekend Home Games
WHO: Birmingham Bulls vs. Ice Flyers (March 21-22), Peoria Rivermen vs. Ice Flyers (March 23).
WHEN: Friday and Saturday games start at 7:05 p.m. The Sunday finale is at 4:05 p.m.
TICKETS: Available at www.iceflyers.com or the Bay Center Box office.
