Saturday marked a pivotal moment in the Kelly Cup Playoffs as the Kansas City Mavericks and the Idaho Steelheads clashed in game five of their second series. With the Mountain Division Championship on the line, this game could be the deciding factor. KC, leading 3-1, had the opportunity to secure their advancement with a win, while Idaho was fighting to stay in the game and force a game six.
Idaho faced a setback with a roster change as Jordan Kawaguchi was suspended this morning for two games. This suspension, a result of his penalty during the second period against Jake McLaughlin, means he will be absent from tonight’s game and game six if the series requires one. This absence could significantly impact Idaho’s performance.
The Puck dropped, and at 2:43, KC got the first penalty for Justin MacPherson cross-checking. The Steelhead heads would fail to produce much on the power play, with only two shots on goal during that play. Mavericks would make it a 1-0 game with Jeremy McKenna finding the hole in Bryan Thomsons’ defense. A.J. White would make it a tied game almost seven minutes in and take the lead two minutes later when Reece Harsch gets one past Jack LaFontaine. 13:58 KCs Max Andreev would tie it up. Both teams pushed hard this period, with Idaho making 26 shots on goal compared to KC’s 15. Closing out the period 2-2, we saw the guys start getting physical, and both teams ended up with roughing penalties. Jacob Hayhurst and Keaton Mastrodonato head to the penalty box for the last 16 seconds of the first period.
The Second period got underway, and we saw immediate good and bad from Patrick Curry. The good was the lead he gave KC, and the bad was the penalty he was called for on the very next play. It was a tripping call that had a few scratching their heads. KC would start to make more mistakes, with Casey Carreau getting called for high-sticking all under four minutes into the period. We would see a solid 13 minutes of great hockey before 17:00 minutes hits. Idaho would catch the following penalty when they were called for roughing and send Willie Knierim to the penalty box, only to get a second roughing penalty at the end of the period when he took exception to a few KC players in front of the net.
The third period started, which would be the calmest period these two teams had. Solid playing with great passing, and Idaho would outshoot KC 6-5 again, with A.J. White making it a tied game again at 11:33. Will Merchant would get the next penalty for Idaho when he was called for high-sticking Jeremy McKenna. There would be two more shots on goal by the Mavericks, and then we would just see straight-up cutt-throat play from both teams, shooting everything they could to take the lead. But time would expire, and we would get some fireworks between players and head to overtime.
The overtime period was a nail-biting affair, with tempers and nerves running high. One team was on the verge of either facing Idaho again or getting some much-needed rest, while the other was about to find out if they were catching flights instead of feelings. The play was intense, with KC dominating Idaho with ten shots on goal vs. their three in the first nine minutes. Reece Harsch and Patrick Curry’s clash in the Idaho D-zone added to the drama as they went down to the ice and started swinging. The teams were evenly matched, each seeing three shots on goal, until Cade Borchardt, not even 60 seconds after the power play ended, scored a game-winning goal with a gnarly rebound.
1st Star of the Game: Cade Borchardt (KC)
2nd Star of the Game: A.J. White (ID)
3rd Star of the Game: Jake LaFontaine (KC)
With a stunning performance, the Kansas City Mavericks emerged as the Mountain Division Champions, adding to their ECHL regular-season champion title and winning the Brabham Cup. This victory propels them to series three of their run to the Kelly Cup, where they will face the undefeated Toledo Walleyes, their most challenging opponent yet. This is the first time since the franchise joined the ECHL in 2014 that they have advanced to the third round of playoff games. Game one of the Western Conference Finals is May 17th in Toledo.
