For the last road trip of the regular season, the IceCaps are in the middle of a gruelling seven-game stretch. The first half of the trip had the IceCaps facing the Utica Comets, a team five points ahead of them in the standings, then a back-to-back with the Syracuse Crunch, who sat just two points behind.
The IceCaps pulled off a 2-1 overtime win against the Comets on Friday night, to get one point closer to a playoff spot. However, they weren’t awarded any points in the following night’s 3-2 loss to the Crunch, nor in Sunday’s rematch with Syracuse, which was a devastating 6-2 defeat.
Rochester Americans (March 23 and 25)
Last time they met: December 30 (3-2 SOL)
The Amerks started the scoring in the opening period while on the power play. Gabriel Dumont shot out of the gate after the first intermission, scoring a short-handed goal just 22 seconds into the second frame. The tie game didn’t last long before the Amerks took the lead once again, slipping one past Dustin Tokarski just a minute and 20 seconds later.
Charles Hudon sniped a power-play marker late in the second period to bring the game back to an even playing field.
The puck didn’t find the back of the net during the final period, but it did seek out Michael McCarron, forcing him to leave for the remainder of the game after taking a puck to the throat.
Overtime was fast and frenzied, but both goaltenders held their ground, sending it into a shootout.
Although Tokarski managed to stop 27 of the 30 shots that came his way during this contest, he was up and down the whole game. He was a little shaky in the beginning after letting in two goals, but stood strong for the final frame and the overtime period, making some key saves. But he ran out of steam and was unable to stop any of the three shots he faced during the shootout, the Amerks outscoring the IceCaps 3-1 during the breakaway contest to take the victory.
Toronto Marlies (Saturday, March 26)
Last time they met: February 14 (2-1 loss)
The IceCaps headed into Valentine’s Day with three consecutive wins in their pockets, one being a 3-1 win over the Marlies the previous night.
The first frame was pretty even keel regarding shots with neither team able to score. The Marlies took a 1-0 lead during the second period, when the puck slipped past Eddie Pasquale; one of the 19 shots he faced in that period alone.
Bud Holloway blasted one from the blue line to put the IceCaps on the board late, but they couldn’t find a way to even the score before time ran out. Pasquale stood tall by putting a stop to 44 of 46 shots on his way to second-star honours, but the team in front of him just couldn’t get a foothold in the game.
The St. John’s IceCaps have been neck-and-neck with the Rochester Americans these past few months in the standings, each going back and forth between the fourth and fifth spots. However, with their back-to-back losses to Syracuse, the IceCaps are now sitting behind the Crunch in sixth place with 67 points, with the Amerks just behind with 65 points, though officially in fourth on account of their superior points percentage.
The Toronto Marlies continue to dominate not only the IceCaps’ North Division, but the entire league — as they have all season — becoming the first team to clinch a playoff spot, with 97 points on the year.
The IceCaps will conclude their road trip with a rematch against the Marlies on Tuesday, March 29 before heading back home for their last homestand of the regular season.
