Sign up for the northeastNOW newsletter

Hawks rattle the Pistons in ‘the Cage,’ tie up ANAVET Cup series

May 2, 2018 | 10:59 PM

After Tuesday’s 6-2 defeat, Brandan Arnold said his Nipawin Hawks were going to come to the Centennial Arena in Nipawin “angry” and ready to tie up the series.

They accomplished both as Arnold had a two goals and two helpers in the Hawks’ 5-2 win over the Steinbach Pistons to square up the ANAVET Cup series at 2-2. Had they lost, they would have entered Friday’s Game 5 at the Cage down three-games-to-one.

“It’s key in the playoffs. You never want to be down like that [3-1] and we knew that,” Arnold said, who now has five goals and 10 points in four ANAVET Cup games. “We knew if we lost this game, it’s pretty hard to come back from a 3-1 deficit. We just stepped up and tied this series. We got some guys going and some guys got on the board, which is nice. Hopefully we can keep this momentum going for Friday.”

One of those guys “getting on the board” was Hawks’ assistant captain Michael Grant. He scored his first of the ANAVET Cup two minutes into the second period on the power play—which eventually turned out to be the game winner.

Grant is one of the fan favourites among Hawks’ fans in large part for his hard-nosed style of play and his manly, red lumberjack beard. Although he downplayed his goal as “lucky” as he was able to score on a rebound, Grant was happy about his Hawks getting a win on home ice.  

“We wanted to establish that this is our home rink,” Grant said, who finished the regular season with 26 goals in 52 games. “Last night, we didn’t do that but I think tonight, we did that. Now, we can take that confidence and momentum into Friday.”

Arnold himself led by example, scoring 6:29 into the game. He picked up a loose puck, slithered his way in front of the net and outwaited Pistons goaltender Matthew Thiessen to put it in the dawning cage.

The Pistons appeared to have tied the game on a 3-on-1 rush just two minutes later, but Austin Heidemann’s would-be goal was called back due to the net being off its moorings.

In the final moments of the first period, Hawks forward Brett Harasymuk snuck home a rebound near post on Thiessen.

Two minutes into the second period, Hawks forward Michael Grant scored on the power play, also tucking home a rebound to give the Hawks a 3-0 advantage.

But Pistons’ defenceman Darby Gula got his team back in the game by himself. He got Steinbach on the board with an innocent wrist shot that deflected off of Hawks defenceman Thomas Lenchyshyn and into the net, then a water bottle job on the power play to make it a 3-2 game by the mid-period break.

But the Hawks were able to get both of those goals back. Josh McDougall faked out the Pistons’ defence on the power play and went top corner to make it 4-2.

Then Arnold scored his second of the game shorthanded in the final minute of the second, a shot that went off Thiessen’s shoulder, bounced high in the air and fell into the net. That chased Thiessen from the game. as Pistons backup Matthew Radomsky played the third period. Thiessen surrendered five goals on 20 shots. Radomsky stopped all seven shots he faced.

In the Hawks’ net, Declan Hobbs made 25 saves on 27 shots.

Game 5 is on Friday at the Cage in Nipawin. That will determine who will have the 3-2 advantage in the series.

 

Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW