Flyers Fall Short in ‘Old West Shootout’ with Monsters Published on 11/7/2011 6:20:00 PM
After a dreadfully slow start to the season, the Valencia Flyers came into a weekend showdown with the league-leading Fresno Monsters with points in six of their last seven games played. The Monsters however posed a threat that paralleled nothing the Flyers had seen this season, rolling into town with a record of 11-1-0 and undefeated on the road. In 12 meetings all-time with the Monsters, the Flyers have won just once and picked up points in just three. What many believed would be another dominant trip south for the Monsters, turned out to be three back-and-forth games between the two WSHL Western Division rivals.
Game 1 (Friday November 4)
The first game of the series started as history may have suggested, with Fresno dominating the opening 20 minutes of play. The Monsters constant fore-check led to numerous turnovers deep in the Flyers’ zone and four straight Valencia penalties only added fuel to the fire. Kyle Baker and Stanton Turner each scored for the visitors, as Fresno took a 2-0 lead into the locker room.
A Chris Clark goal early in the second period extended the Fresno lead to three and dimmed the chance of a Valencia comeback.
Looking to chip away at the deficit, the Flyers took to the power play just minutes later. Leading scorer Eddie Keshishian positioned himself in the slot and took a feed from forward Sam Khongmuk, beating Fresno goaltender Marcus Harbison with a wrist shot that pulled the Flyers within two. Just moments later, rookie forward Austin Ehrlich scored another highlight reel goal after walking Fresno defenseman Tommy Nourie and beating Harbison on the backhand. What just minutes earlier looked like a runaway, was now just a one-goal deficit heading into the final period of regulation.
With time winding down in the third period, Fresno captain David Kann took a poorly timed penalty and the Flyers power play went back to work.
Ehrlich walked out of the corner after making a beautiful spin move on Fresno defenseman Michael Freeman and found his buddy Keshishian wide open in front of the net, who put it home to knot the game at three and forcing overtime.
The 4-4 overtime period solved nothing as the two teams headed to a shootout for the second straight meeting dating back to December of last year.
In the shootout, two-thirds of Fresno’s top line, Nick McKee and Don Coyle, scored on Flyers goaltender Stephen Palmer and only Keshishian was able to fool Harbison, as the Monsters escaped with the shootout win.
Game 2 (Saturday November 5)
The script was flipped in game two, as it was the home team that jumped out to the 3-0 first period lead and again it was Eddie Keshishian who led the charge.
With the Monsters on the power play just over four minutes into the contest, Keshishian knocked the puck away from David Kann just inside the Valencia blue line and raced in all alone against Fresno goaltender Tom McGuckin.
McGuckin had no chance from the get-go, as Keshishian faked a shot and lifted the puck on the backhand off of the cross-bar and in, as the Flyers took their first lead of the series.
Just over three minutes later, the Flyers extended the lead to 2-0 while on a power play of their own.
Keshishian found captain Brandon Weise at the point, who was able to put all of his weight into a slap shot that McGuckin had no chance of stopping through traffic.
The Flyers never let off of the fore-check in the opening period and Keshishian made it 3-0 when he pick-pocketed Fresno defenseman Gunnar Dircks just inside the Monsters’ blue line and again walked in alone against McGuckin. This time going with his patented move, with a quick head fake and a nonchalant slide of the puck between the goaltenders’ pads.
With three points in the opening period, Keshishan had notched six points in four periods against the Monsters and had scored at least one point in 13 of his last 14 games played.
With forward Cameron Randles in the box late in the period, the Monsters pushed for a goal before the buzzer to give them at least a bit of momentum to build upon. Their catalyst, Nick McKee did just that, beating Stephen Palmer on a rebound attempt with just five seconds left before the intermission.
Fresno came out hard in the second period and pulled within one on a two-man advantage on a goal from third-year forward Don Coyle.
With Fresno sensing blood in the water, Brandon Weise added to his best weekend of hockey as a Flyer, when he skated the puck out of his own zone and blasted a long slap shot from just outside of the Fresno blue line. The rising shot seemed to fool McGuckin and clanked off the crossbar and in to give the Flyers the two-goal cushion back and take away any momentum the Monsters had just gained.
Looking to turn back the momentum, Fresno agitator Jason Beisinger dropped the gloves with Flyers’ leading scorer Eddie Keshishan before a faceoff in front of the Fresno bench. The exchanged shots, but the big blow came when both players were ejected from the game and automatically suspended for another, as they fought before play had began. Beisinger had 10 points on the season and was playing on the 3rd line for the Monsters’, while Keshishian led the entire league with 25 points and was a pivotal part of the Valencia offense.
The Flyers held on to the two-goal lead into the third period but played passively in the final period of regulation and allowed the vaunted Monsters’ offense back into the game.
The final stanza of regulation was the best of the weekend for the Monsters and the worst for the Flyers, as the home team was outshot 19-0 in the period. Stephen Palmer made a handful of big saves to preserve the lead but the Flyers’ conservative approach led to two Don Coyle goals, which completed the hat trick and tied the game at four.
In overtime, the Flyers failed to convert on a power play and again took their chances in a shootout with one of the most skilled teams in the league. Without Keshishian, the Flyers failed to beat McGuckin, as the 5’10 goaltender played like he was 6’10, stopping all four Valencia shooters.
Marc Haaf and Chris Clark both beat Stephen Palmer and Fresno would head into the final game of the series looking for the sweep.
Game 3 (Sunday November 6)
The Flyers seemed drained after tough games and it showed in the finale. Fresno controlled play and led early on Zach Alvarez’ first goal of the season. The one goal deficit was nothing in comparison to the three goals the Flyers fought back from in the opener, but it seemed like a lot more the way both teams were playing.
Albert Boyamyan’s power play goal provided some life in the second period but Fresno would answer with goals from Nick McKee and Marc Haaf and led 3-1 heading into the third.
In the third the Flyers again pulled within one, as rookie forward Jordan Spesak notched his first career junior hockey goal on the power play but once again, the Monsters responded.
Fresno fired back behind Kyle Godfrey fifth goal of the season and McKee’s second of the game and team leading 14th goal of the year to put the game away.
With the 5-2 victory the Monsters improved to 14-0-1 all-time against the Flyers and took home their fourth sweep of the season already.
The Flyers received credit for a hard fought series from Monsters’ Head Coach Bryce Dale and played Fresno tougher than any other opponent has this season; including the Texas Brahmas and Idaho Jr. Steelheads, two perennial powers in the WSHL.
With a record of 5-6-4, the Flyers sit just one point out of a potential playoff spot and now know they can stick with the top team in the league.
A three game set in Peoria, Arizona this weekend against the third place Red Hawks will be a huge series as the season inches closer to the mid-point and playoff spots are battled for even harder.
