Jr. Blues win a wild back-and-forth affair in Topeka

Dec 8, 2014

For the second consecutive series, the Springfield Jr. Blues pulled off a big win against the Topeka Roadrunners a game after losing 4-0. This time, it was a 5-4 shootout win. The Blues came back from 2-1 and 4-3 deficits before finally salting the game away in a shootout.

All but one goal in regulation came in the second period. Springfield would go up 1-0 at the 2:04 mark with a goal from Brendan Jacques. The Blues broke out of their own zone off a missed Topeka chance, and Jacques tipped in a Tyler Funk shot the other way on a 3-on-2.

It wasn’t the first goal Springfield would score on a breakout out of their own zone.

Topeka tied the game at the 7:05 mark of the second period on a goal from Tyler Irvine. Just two minutes and 21 seconds later, on the power play, Daniel Rzavsky finished off a pass from Willy Brown into an open net past the stick side of Niko DellaMaggorie.

The Jr. Blues would tie it on a goal from Kyle Meeh, who got a great pass from newcomer Andrew Richter on a two-on-one. It was the third goal of the season for Meeh, a defenseman, who got the pass on the forehand and was able to rip it home past Topeka goalie Matej Tomek.

Funk scored to put Springfield up 3-2 less than three minutes after the Meeh goal, with great passing below the goal line from Viktor Ekk to Jacques, who fed Funk in front. But the wild second period continued, and Topeka would tie the game and then take the lead on goals from Jasen Fernsler and Sly Sutter.

The go-ahead goal from Sutter came off a pinball play, with former Jr. Blue Will Scherer wristing one from the left point. The puck deflected off Carlos Fornaris’ stick off the left side of the net, and Sutter cleaned up on the other side of the goal mouth.

Joey Lupo tied the game in the third with six minutes and 48 seconds ticked off the clock. Lupo got a drop pass from Brian Rigali in the Topeka zone and took a snap shot in the slot. It was the fourth time the teams had tied during the Monday afternoon affair.

DellaMaggorie made 36 saves and then stopped five shots in the shootout. Josh Lammon and Michael Crowley scored in the shootout to secure the win for the Jr. Blues. It’s the fourth win against Topeka for Springfield this season.

The Jr. Blues are looking forward to returning home, having gone 2-4 on this six-game road trip. They take on Johnstown for a three-game series starting Friday night. We’ll have all the action for you on FastHockey.

-Jim McCabe