Miami's playoff run to a VHLM Championship

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The Miami Marauders won the VHLM championship by defeating Mississauga 4 games to 0 in the finals.  Miami put together a 12 and 3 record in the playoffs including winning 9 games in a row after San Diego took them to a 7^th game in the first round.  It was a back and forth first round series with San Diego as Miami took an 3 games to 2 lead but the Marlins staved off elimation in game 6 with a 4-2 win to send the series back to Miami for Game 7.  The teams would trade the first 6 goals of the game but the Marauders would get the game winner late in the second period and held off all 15 San Diego shots in the third period for the win.

 

In the second round, Miami face Las Vegas who won their first round series 4 games to 1.  3 of the 4 games against the Aces were one goal victories for the Marauders with game 2 being the only blowout of the series by the score of 5 to 1.  Games 3 and 4 went to overtime, but the Aces could not break through in either game and Miami won the series 4 games to 0.

 

VHLM FINALS -- MIAMI MARAUDERS VS MISSISSAUGA HOUNDS

 

The finals showcased the best team in the league in the Hounds and the third best team in the Marauders.  The Hounds won 7 of the 8 games against Miami including one in overtime and one in a shootout. 

 

Game 1 was a back and forth affair with the Hounds taking a 3-2 lead just having the halfway point of the game but two late second period goals by the Marauders including one with just 30 seconds left in the period gave Miami a 4-3 lead.  The Marauders added one more in the third period on the power play and outshot the Hounds 37 to 21 in the game en route to winning game 1 by the score of 5 to 3.

 

Game 2 did not have the scoring that game 1 had, but with nearly 70 shots in the game, 39 for the Hounds and 30 for Miami, there was a lot of action up and down the ice.  The Hounds scored the only goal of the first period but in a 90 second span of the second period, Miami scored the final two goals of the game to win game 2 by a score of 2 to 1 and take a 2 games to 0 lead as the series headed to Miami for games 3 and 4.

 

The Hounds struck early in game 3 with a power play goal but Miami would soon answer with one goal and then take a 2-1 lead later in the first period.  The Marauders would score the only goal of the second period on the power play but the Hounds would answer that about halfway through the third period with their own power play goal.  However, the Hounds could not get another goal the rest of the way and Miami won the game 3 to 2 and took a 3 games to 0 lead.

 

The two teams did not disappoint the fans in game 4 as they exchanged goals in the first period and Miami was on the only team to score in the second and took a 2-1 lead into the final period.  The Hounds would tie the game with just over 3 minutes left in the game on the power play and looked to take the game to overtime.  However, Miami got its own power play chance and Alexander the Great scored the championship winning goal to give Miami the 3 to 2 win and the series sweep over the Hounds.

Edited May 8, 2021 by hockeyis66