The Maine Nordiques and New Jersey Titans traded goals throughout Game 2 of their NAHL East Division semifinal series Saturday.
Maine captain Brendan Gibbons scored from the top of the slot about seven-and-half minutes into overtime, giving the Nordiques a 6-5 victory at the Middletown Ice World Arena in Middletown, New Jersey.
“Most important thing talking about Brendan Gibbons is he’s a leader and he’s a winner,” Pinchevsky said. “He really loves to win, and he’s one of the most competitive players on our team, from day one.”
The goal was Gibbons’ second of the game. Forwards Henrik Hallberg and Aidan Coupe also scored two goals for the Nordiques.
The third-seeded Nordiques now have a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series and will go for a sweep Thursday at 7 p.m. at The Colisee.
Maine held a 4-3 lead after two periods, but its advantage disappeared early in the third. New Jersey’s Ben Muthersbaugh scored his second goal of the game when his shot beat Nordiques goalie Thomas Heaney (33 saves), tying the game 3:20 into the final period.
It was also the Titans’ second power-play goal of the game.
Second-seeded New Jersey scored its third power-play goal 12:24 into the third period when Ben Yurchuk gave the Titans a 5-4 lead. Dumas and Young added to their point totals with assists on the goal.
Maine’s Henrik Hallberg netted his second goal, tying the game at 5-5, nearly two minutes after Yurchuk’s tally. Filip Wiberg had the lone assist.
That score held up through the end of regulation and deep into overtime before Gibbons’ goal ended the game.
SCORE AND RESPONSE
Anthony Calafiore, a University of Maine recruit, put the Titans up 1-0 midway through the first period. Michael Young and Eric Charpentier assisted on the power-play tally.
New Jersey was 3 for 4 on the man advantage, while Maine went 2 for 4.
“Both teams learned the power plays are potent,” Pinchevsky said. “… When you are playing ping-pong, chance-after-chance on both sides, if the ball bounces the wrong way, or someone takes their eye off the ball, it can bounce in your court the way you don’t want.”
Forward Aidan Coupe scored the Nordiques’ first goal from the slot, tying the game at 1-1 nearly 16 minutes into the first.
Young responded for New Jersey in the final two minutes of the opening frame. This time, Calafiore had the assist.
Early in the second period, Coupe tied the contest 2-2 for Maine with a slap shot from the left circle on the man advantage. Filip Wiberg and Nicholas Bernardo recorded the assists.
“He did a lot of things well out there, and one of the things was producing,” Pinchevsky said of Aidan Coupe. “He’s been doing it at a serious pace for almost half a season now.”
Gibbons, who is heading to the Air Force Academy, scored his first tally by beating Titans’ goalie Zakari Brice (21 saves) midway through the second for a 3-2 lead. Gibbons’ linemates, Oliver Genest and Coupe, recorded the helpers.
Muthersbaugh answered quickly for New Jersey, scoring just past the 10-minute mark of the second after he picked off a Bernardo pass in the neutral zone and had a partial breakaway.
Hallberg gave the Nordiques the 4-3 lead heading into the second intermission when his second goal of the series found the back of the net with under 30 seconds remaining in the period.
“Henrik is a key player, in the sense if you give him an opportunity to put the puck in the net, he’s very good at doing it,” Pinchevsky said. “He has been doing it consistently all year, and he’s another one proving to the higher levels that he can really, really score.”
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