Upset Alert: VHLM Playoffs Round 1, Minnesota vs Miami

[a_Ferk 760]

In a shocking turn of events, the Miami Marauders won the first set of games against the first seed Minnesota Wild, taking them 4-2 and 5-1, respectively. This was not unseen between Miami and Minnesota, as Miami won three out of eight in the season series according to the recent VSN article by Mr_Hatter, but it was still extremely unexpected. Following the sweep of eighth seeded Halifax by first place Ottawa last season, Miami has proved that the 8th seed will not be pushed around this season and they are not to be taken lightly.

 

Game 1

 

The first game was very close, and it would’ve been 3-2 if not for an empty net goal by Rocket at 19:12 in the 3rd period. Minnesota was plagued by undisciplined play the whole game, giving up 8 penalties while only drawing 2. While Miami failed to capitalize on the powerplay, this still most certainly had an effect on the game as that is 16 minutes of regulation time that Minnesota would’ve been down a man. The goaltenders were nearly dead even in terms of save percentage. Miami goaltender Bacon played well enough for the win, posting an 0.889, while Minnesota’s Woody McPine put up an 0.893 in the loss. Bobbie Cheechoo had a great performance for Miami, putting up three assists in a limited ice time of 13:04 and recording the second star. Kosmo Kramev also had an excellent performance in his own right with a goal and two assists and the first star. Kramerev led every skater in ice time at 32:43 and was solid for Miami’s defense. Dakota Lamb scored a goal and one assist, good enough for third star. Another key player in my opinion was Oh Sens of Miami. Although he wasn’t a star in the game and only had one goal, that goal would go on to be the game winner.

 

Game 2

 

Game 2 was much more lopsided in favor of Miami, who took an early 3-0 lead in the first. Minnesota goaltender Woody McPine did not have a good start to the game, and after the third goal was scored by Miami at 18:03 in the first period, he was pulled and replaced by Bennet Dahl. McPine had a 0.727 save percentage when he was pulled from the game, while Dahl did better with an 0.867. On the other side of the ice Miami’s Bacon had an excellent performance, only allowing a single goal on 28 shots faced. This was good for an outstanding 0.964. Dakota Lamb had a great sim, putting up two goals and an assist in the game and also got second star. Kosmo Kramerev again was named the first star, to no one’s surprise. He posted two goals and one assist and once again played an enormous amount of ice time. Kramerev’s defense partner Wolf Stansson also had a good performance with three assists and the third star of the game

 

 

 It is well known that Miami relies heavily on the first pairing of Stansson and Kramerev for both defense and offense, and it shows on the game recap as they logged over 30 minutes in both games. Forward Dakota Lamb also had strong performances, receiving third star in the first game and second star in game two, for a total of five points in the sim. Minnesota will have to lock down these three players if they want to get back into the series.

Edited June 28, 2020 by a_Ferk

[Andre LeBastard 112]

Nice review of the first two games of this series!

 

It's good to read this kind of reportage, you also have some good analysis on power plays etc., too. Hopefully you will follow the series to its conclusion. 

8.0/10