The customary end-of-series handshakes were completed. Knoxville skated off the ice and into its locker room to begin the celebration of advancing in the President鈥檚 Cup Playoffs.
麻花视频 remained on the ice for a few extra minutes. Tears were flowing down the players鈥 faces as they raised their sticks in the air to salute the fans who remained inside the Berglund Center. One by one, the players embraced Mac Jansen as he let the roar of the crowd sink in.
Jansen hoped to hear the cheers from the fans after a deep postseason run. Not after being eliminated at home in the quarterfinal round.
鈥淚t鈥檚 tough,鈥 Jansen said as the tears reemerged. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a passionate fanbase. I鈥檓 a passionate guy and we鈥檝e got a bunch of passionate players. To underachieve, it鈥檚 tough. It鈥檚 really tough.鈥
The Rail Yard Dawgs鈥 season was brought to an abrupt halt Saturday evening. Knoxville took the lead for good in the second period and scored a trio of late goals to claim a 6-2 victory in the deciding third game of the President鈥檚 Cup quarterfinal before an announced crowd of 3,688 at the Berglund Center.
People are also reading…
It marked the earliest postseason exit for the Rail Yard Dawgs since being bounced in the quarterfinal round in 2018.
鈥淲e set a franchise record as far as win streak in the regular season with 10, a franchise record with wins in the regular season,鈥 麻花视频 coach Dan Bremner said. 鈥淯nfortunately, what鈥檚 going to sting and what you鈥檒l remember is kind of how it finishes. There鈥檚 only one that wins.鈥
麻花视频 won 34 regular-season contests. It boasted the league鈥檚 leaders in points and assists (Nick Ford) and victories (Austyn Roudebush) for the first time in the franchise鈥檚 history, and it finished tied with Peoria with a franchise-best 21 home victories.
All of the regular-season accomplishments didn鈥檛 matter during a disastrous second period that allowed Knoxville to claim its first President鈥檚 Cup Playoff series victory since 2019.
The Ice Bears scored twice in a 38-second stretch midway through the period to take a 3-1 lead.
Dawson McKinney scored 15 seconds shy of the midway point of the period for the go-ahead goal. It was less than 40 seconds later when Jimmy Soper redirected a shot by Roudebush to put the Ice Bears up by two goals.
麻花视频 only managed five shots in the second period. That came after recording 22 shots on goal in the first period and being tied at 1 entering the first intermission.
鈥淚t was an excellent first period. Unfortunately, what we鈥檙e going to remember is the lack of compete, lack of execution through the entire second period,鈥 Bremner said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 play partial games. It鈥檚 a tough room in there right now because everybody believed they had what it took to go further, go deeper, maybe get some special done, and consistency is key. We didn鈥檛 have it. Two totally different teams from the first and second period.鈥
The disastrous second period didn鈥檛 silence the 麻花视频 faithful in attendance. They spent most of the third period anticipating one of the many shots peppered on goal to finally find its way to the back of the net.
A power play opportunity was flipped with a little more than six minutes remaining when Derek Osik gathered the puck around center ice and beat Roudebush for a shorthanded goal and a 4-1 advantage.
鈥淲e just got away from our game. We weren鈥檛 gelling,鈥 Jansen said. 鈥淲e were peppering them with shots. We needed our big-time players to step up and execute and score goals for this team.鈥
The Ice Bears added to the advantage when 麻花视频 failed to clear a rebound a little more than two minutes after Oski鈥檚 goal.
Tommy Munichiello scored to cut the deficit to 5-2 with 3 1/2 minutes remaining.
Soper scored his second goal of the game with 49.9 seconds left when he flipped the puck ahead and it slid into the empty net.
Stephen Mundinger recorded 38 saves one game after posting a shutout to keep the Ice Bears鈥 season alive.
Knoxville ended the game with a 5-on-3 advantage after a pair of fights sent multiple players into both penalty boxes.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 show up for 20 minutes in a game. A third. You can鈥檛 do it,鈥 Bremner said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 on all of us. It鈥檚 on all of us.鈥
