Hockey playoffs: Cobras drop Wolverines
WHITEFISH — Butte scored a pair of goals on consecutive shifts at the end of the first period and never relented, topping Whitefish 5-2 on Saturday night at Stumptown Ice Den to even the Western States Hockey League playoff series at 1-1.
The Cobras took a page out of the Wolverines’ Game 1 playbook, scoring twice within 15 seconds to take a commanding lead at the end of the first. With three minutes on the clock, Butte’s Chadd Lounder drove to the front of the net and slid a backhander through the legs of Whitefish’s goaltender to tally the first goal of the night.
The Cobras won the ensuing faceoff and played quickly into the Whitefish zone. Just 15 seconds after the first goal, Butte’s Anton Zimmer got open in the slot to score again. Similarly, the Wolverines scored twice in 13 seconds on Friday to boost themselves to a win in the series opener.
Things seemed to look up for Whitefish early in the second period. Two minutes in, forward Stosh Mroz seemed to have ripped the first goal of the night under the top shelf, but it bounced out before officials could see it and play continued.
Five minutes later, Wolverines forward Kieffer Helbing dug a puck out of the corner and found a streaking Brett Fernandez on the far side of the net, dishing a saucer pass cross ice for Fernandez to tuck on the short side.
The momentum was short-lived. After a few strong chances from Whitefish, the Cobras notched their third of the night in a scrum in front of the net, burying home a rebound. Whitefish goalie Brendan Duff couldn’t deal with a bad hop a minute later and Butte’s fourth goal went through his legs.
Whitefish still had hope after defenseman Josh Schur roofed a goal midway through the third, but less than a minute later Butte stretched its lead back to three goals on Zimmer’s second of the game.
The Wolverines threw the puck at the net to find a few chances in the final few minutes but couldn’t convert.
“I don’t think we got the right bounces out there,” Wolverines forward Tyler Latimer said.
“We had some mental errors in the (defensive) zone and the neutral zone, especially the neutral zone. Tomorrow we have to come out prepared.”
The teams will meet at 4:05 p.m. today at Stumptown Ice Den to decide the series. The winner will play a three-game series at top-seeded Idaho next weekend.
While the teams had words for each other after Saturday’s contest, Whitefish coach Joakim Falt doesn’t expect the final game of the series to be any more chippy than the first two.
“There’s too much on the line tomorrow,” Falt said.
“It should be a good game.”
Butte 2 2 1 — 5
Whitefish 0 1 1 — 2
First period — 1, Butte, Chadd Lounder (Danny Armstrong, Nick Wrobel), 17:00. 2, Butte, Anton Zimmer (Jacob Rudloff, Bogdan Shleev), 17:15.
Second period — 1, Whitefish, Brett Fernandez (Kieffer Helbing, Richard Mulligan), 7:19. 3, Butte, PJ Silveria (Morgan Reiner, Zach Steuck), 15:15. 4, Butte, Jacob Rudloff (Anton Zimmer, Zach Steuck), 16:41.
Third period — 2, Whitefish, Josh Schur (Danny Roe, Tyler Latimer) 10:48. 5, Butte, Anton Zimmer (Morgan Reiner, Zach Steuck), 11:35.
Shots on Goal — Butte 18-19-15—52. Whitefish 11-8-7—26. Power-play opportunities — Butte 0 for 3. Whitefish 0 for 2. Goalies — Butte, Tage Rustgi (26 shots-24 saves). Whitefish, Brendan Duff (52-47). T — 2:35. A — 450.