Springfield, Illinois | 4/24/22 | Isaac Smoldon
The Anchorage Wolverines are moving onto round two of the Robertson Cup Playoffs after sweeping the Springfield Jr. Blues in three games. Anchorage won game three in overtime, with Matt Johnson scoring the game winner 13:04 into the fourth frame. The Wolverines will take on the winner of the Fairbanks Ice Dogs and Minnesota Wilderness series, with game one taking place on May 6th.
Anchorage broke the ice on Sunday late in the third period, when Aiden Westin scored on the powerplay. 28 seconds later, Jackson Reineke scored off of a breakaway opportunity, and got the Wolverines their first two-goal lead of the series. Raythan Robbins made 13 saves in the 1st to keep Springfield scoreless in the opening frame.
The Anchorage lead would last until late in the 2nd period, when the Jr. Blues scored two successive powerplay goals. Connor Smith tallied his second goal of the playoffs with 3:52 remaining in the frame, followed by Joey Dosan tying the game under three minutes later. For the third time in as many games, both teams went into the 3rd tied.
Halfway through the final period, Anchorage regained the lead when Jackson Reineke tipped a puck in past Springfield goaltender Ethan Roberts to make the score 3-2. The Wolverines nearly held on to win in regulation, but some late period heroics from Leo Bacallao tied the game at three apiece, and for the first time in the series, both teams headed to overtime.
The Jr. Blues out chanced Anchorage in the extra frame, but Robbins held his team in the game. Then with seven minutes left in overtime, a loose puck bounced right to Bohdan Panasenko at the top of the circle. He immediately slid it across to Matt Johnson on the far side of the ice, who roofed a shot past Roberts to ice both the game and the series. The Wolverines won by a final score of 2-1.
The team now looks ahead to May 6th, when they will play the winner of the Fairbanks Icedogs and the Minnesota Wilderness. Be sure to be checking our social media and website for information as it become available, as well as to purchase tickets when they go on sale for round two.
