Player of the Game Hockey - NHL 1967/68 Playoff SF's, April 29th 1968

Mon 29th April 1968
East Division
Toronto Maple Leafs @ Montreal Canadiens Game #5
After two periods there were just twenty-two shots and a single goal on the scoreboard as Cournoyer's (5) tally at 2:15 in the first period held out until 6:44 in the third where Ellis (8) scored his fifth goal of the series while the Leafs were shorthanded.

T Harris (3) restored Montreal's lead on that same powerplay and only an F Mahovlich (5) finish eighteen seconds from time prevented the Habs from taking a 3-2 series lead back to Toronto. WHile the Leafs spent the final frame of  regulation on the ascendancy with fourteen shots to Montreal's eight, it was the Canadiens who controlled OT with twelve shots against one. The relentless pressure finally broke Toronto and at 3:39 of the extra period G Tremblay (5) finished off what his brother started to get that series lead for a third time.

		1st	2nd	3rd	OT	F
TOR	@	0	0	2	0	2
MON		1	0	1	1	3

TOR Gamble (1-2 .908 3.00) 30/33, Powerplay 0/0
MON Worsley (7-4 .902 3.00) 21/23, Powerplay 1/3

Goalscorers:
1st Period
MON Cournoyer (5) Duff 2:15
2nd Period
No Scoring
3rd Period
TOR SHG Ellis (8) Stranley 6:44
MON PPG T Harris (3) Duff, Lamaire 7:02
TOR F Mahovlich (5) L Hillman, Walton 19:42
Overtime
MON G Tremblay (5) JC Tremblay 3:39

Montreal leads the best-of-seven series 3-2

West Division
Pittsburgh Penguins @ Philadelphia Flyers Game #5
While the Penguins stuck with game four winner Bassen in goal Philadelphia went back to Parent as they once again tried to close out the series. Eight shots a piece in the opening frame yielded no success as both netminders stood firm, but Ingarfield (2) carried on from his OT winner last time out by breaking the deadlock midway though the second period on the powerplay.

K McCreary (1) was then set up by MacNeil (2) with the latter scoring himself in the final period with Pittsburgh on their sixth man advantage as Bassen stops all sixteen shots that came his way, becoming the third goalie to keep a clean sheet in the playoffs and the second Pen to do so. The series heads back to Pittsburgh for game six where Philadelphia have a third chance to book their place in the finals.

		1st	2nd	3rd	OT	F
PIT	@	0	2	1		3
PHI		0	0	0		0

PIT Bassen (2-0 .927 1.50) 16/16, Powerplay 2/6
PHI Parent (4-4 .903 2.88) 28/31, Powerplay 0/o

Goalscorers:
1st Period
No Scoring
2nd Period
PIT PPG Ingarfield (2) Schinkel, Price 8:13
PIT K McCreary (1) MacNeil 13:24
3rd Period
PIT PPG MacNeil (2) Ingarfield, Fonteyne 14:52

Philadelphia leads the best-of-seven series 3-2

Controlled Chaos - Indiana Open, Heat Two

Indiana Open - Winslow, IN
Heat Two
Jess Yates, Reggie Banks, Danny Krol, Jason Ingle, Tom Gariepy, Bob Alexander, Norm Gibson, Will Thompson, Scott Hutchins, Bambi Rogers, John Ruiz, Randy Tondreau

Almost six minutes had passed in the second heat in Winslow before Scott Hutchins (1st Seattle Derby, 2nd Big Apple Smash Up, 2nd Lobster Nationals, 1st Bluegrass Derby) blew a huge chance to take over the lead in the championship, missing his first final in six weeks as Banks, Tondreau and Krol all conspired against him, knocking him out after he had struck Ruiz, Yates, Tondreau, and his title rival Will Thompson.

That was the first of a string of eliminations where Jess Yates (4th Summer Sizzler, 3rd Alamo Derby, 3rd Halloween Open) was knocked around by the pack, Bambi Rogers (6th Arknsas Derby, 11th Bryan Family Open, 5th Halloween) tried to hunt down John Ruiz before Thompson charged in with a devastating blindsider, and then Ruiz (1st Ides of March, 8th Seattle Derby, 2nd Fall Nationals) unsurprisingly succumbed to the nine shots he took with Thompson finishing the job on a double-tap, keeping his poor record going with just three finals out of the last twenty.

With Danny Krol (4th Jersey Derby, 3rd Sizzler, 4th Bluegrass, 1st Hickory) taken out by just three hits - his five shots on as many opponents causing as much damage to himself as to anyone else - the consolation heat entrants were Reggie Banks, who carved through seven different competitors, Randy Tondreau, who survived a stall and rampaged over Reggie Banks to take him down, with Tom Gariepy and Bob Alexander both heading out together when the former flew up and over Alexander.

While Gariepy was stalling and requiring the marshall's help in putting out a small fire Bob Alexander was warring with Rogers and then helped to soften up Banks before his nemesis of the day paid heavy attention to him. The second hit laid on by Gariepy saw his car crush the roof of his opponent while he somersaulted onto his own back, eliminating the pair.

When Will Thompson and Norm Gibson came together for the eighth time in the heat that was it for both drivers, forcing them to share runner-up spot. Thompson, who trails championship leader Darryl Lozier by just six points, heads into his twenty-second final after chasing after Ingle and Gibson, but it was a hit to Bambi Rogers that started off his heat. Hutchins then came in with a blindside early in his ill-fated day before passing it on, then he struck his two victims once each, double-tapped Ruiz, then laid five more hits on Ingle (2) and Gibson (3).

That final hit left Gibson stranded along with his attacker, but it's fourteenth final for him; just his second in five weeks. Also suffering an early blindside - from who else but Thompson? - their ten minute war raged on with Alexander earning a couple of shots along the way; Yates and Rogers one each.

Jason Ingle therefore takes his third heat win this year as he moves on into eleventh final of his season, third in twelve. Almost falling at the start when his car stalled for a long time Ingle re-fired and struck both Alexander and Banks, avoiding a hit to his blindside as well, before suffering yet another tough stall. Again he had seconds to spare when he eventually re-fired the engine, but with everyone else preoccupied he suffered only six hits against throughout the heat. Laying a shot each into Gariepy and Alexander before their cataclysmal finale, he then rode the final challenges to take the win,.

Race Result
1. Jason Ingle
2. Norm Gibson
2. Will Thompson
4. Tom Gariepy
4. Bob Alexander
6. Randy Tondreau
7. Reggie Banks
8. Danny Krol
9. John Ruiz
10. Bambi Rogers
11. Jess Yates
12. Scott Hutchins

Controlled Chaos - Indiana Open, Heat One

Indiana Open - Winslow, IN
Heat One
Jamie Eilers, Ben Hadsell, Ed Smith, Matt Welliver, Sam Harbin, Andy Bing, Leo May, Will Murphy, Timmy Barnes, Darrell Andresen, Darryl Lozier, Don Davis

Ben Hadsell (1st Frostbite, Tied-2nd Summer National Derby, 2nd Texas Nationals, 1st Fall Nationals) went from hitting Ed Smith to colliding with Matt Welliver, jarring him enough to force him out very early on with a knock, and Darrell Andresen (4th Indy Nationals, 5th Firecracker Open, 5th Arknsas Derby) has two finals out of the last eight as he and Darryl Lozier tangled leaving the former stalled out.

It's no finals in four and with only three all year Timmy Barnes (12th Spring Fling Derby, 4th Big Apple Smash Up, 8th Bluegrass Derby) endures another hard luck round with five hits against him in quick order, two of them coming from Jamie Eilers, and the fall of the long-term standings leader Darryl Lozier (1st Tampa Open, Jersey Derby, Big Apple, Alamo Derby) continues as his battle with Ed Smith leaves him stalled and unable to re-fire in ninth position. This is the second time in two months he has missed back-to-back finals with only a 10th in the Bluegrass Derby and 4th at Hickory making up his points hauls in that time.

Matt Welliver (1st SidelineStrategy.com Derby, 2nd Golden Gate Invitational, 3rd Fall Nationals) is unable to continue his good form of late where he has four top four finishes in the last seven rounds, Andy Bing finishing with a blindside what Smith started with a double-attack, and then Bing creeps into the consolation heat after Welliver freed him and Harbin from a locked-bumper situation, going on to be crushed by a trio of assailants to take his total of hits against into double figures.

After looking in good form by taking it to five drivers Will Murphy suffered from a terrible miss that ended his heat in a wall, but he moves onto the second chance race along with Leo May who became locked up with Hadsell before Bing freed them, and Don Davis who warred hard with both Bing and Eilers with the latter ending it with a surprise hit after missing an earlier blindside attempt.

It's a fifth final in eight for Ed Smith who only enjoyed a single pointless appearance through the first twenty-two rounds. With eight hits for and only three against he was a repeat visitor to Bing, Welliver and May with two hits each as Hadsell, Lozier and May failed in their attempts to cause enough damage.

Jamie Eilers qualifies for his first final in five as he threw all of his efforts into striking Timmy Barnes, Andy Bing and Don Davis multiple shots on each. Avoiding much of the trouble he eventually ran out of places to hide and the pack descended upon him with Sam Harbin laying on the final hit.

Harbin's ninth final appearance, and first in six weeks, comes after taking his second heat victory this season. Another keen attacker of Andy Bing with three early shots which briefly locked them together Sam Harbin went through Lozier, Davis, May and then Eilers for the win, taking just three hits in the ten minute heat.

Race Result
1. Sam Harbin
2. Jamie Eilers
3. Ed Smith
4. Don Davis
5. Leo May
6. Will Murphy
7. Andy Bing
8. Matt Welliver
9. Darryl Lozier
10. Timmy Barnes
11. Darrell Andresen
12. Ben Hadsell

Player of the Game Hockey - NHL 1967/68 Playoff SF's, April 28th 1968

Sun 28th April 1968
East Division
Montreal Canadiens @ Toronto Maple Leafs Game #4
After Bower was lit up in game three the Maple Leafs turn to Gamble for the second time this postseason and he faced only twenty-three shots as Montreal fail to take home a 3-1 series lead.

Toronto got off on the right foot through Ellis (7) midway through the first period, then, after a fight between Ferguson and Horton, doubled their lead when Armstrong (2) nailed his chance in the second period. Redmond (1) slashed the advantage in half less than three minutes later but Walton (7) restored the two goal cushion late on.

F Mahovlich (4) on the powerplay, completing Walton's three pointer on an assist, and Armstrong (3) with his second of the game sealed a 5-1 Leafs victory. The game ended with another bout between Ferguson and Horton, the former racking up over fifty penalty minutes in eleven playoff games.

		1st	2nd	3rd	OT	F
MON	@	0	1	0		1
TOR		1	2	2		5

MON Worsley (6-4 .901 3.10) 32/37, Powerplay 0/4
TOR Gamble (1-1 .908 3.00) 22/23, Powerplay 1/6

Goalscorers:
1st Period
TOR Ellis (7) L Hillman, Walton 10:04
2nd Period
Fight MON Ferguson vs TOR Horton 6:55
TOR Armstrong (2) Conacher 8:07
MON Redmond (1) Harper, H Richard 10:51
TOR Walton (7) Ellis, Horton 18:32
3rd Period
TOR PPG F Mahovlich (4) Walton 5:40
TOR Armstrong (3) Pulford 7:07
Fight MON Ferguson vs TOR Horton 16:51

The best-of-seven series is tied 2-2

Controlled Chaos - Indiana Open Preview

Don Davis continues as understudy with Billy Edgington still sidelined, but Darryl Lozier is back from the knock that kept him out of action last week; Kenny Rose making way.

Since winning the Ohio Derby and Golden Gate Invitational two weeks apart Andy Bing has qualified for just one final (11th Fall Nationals) in the past month and he goes against Lozier in heat one. Ben Hadsell, coming off back-to-back appearances with a win at the Fall Nationals and sixth last week, joins them along with Jamie Eilers who is final-less in five weeks.

After his win in Akron Will Thompson will look to take charge of the standings but he has Scott Hutchins with him in the second heat in Winslow, and he will certainly have the same idea. Tom Gariepy has only one final in five (4th Fall) and Norm Gibson one in four (10th Halloween Open), but they both go in this heat as well.

Joe Ramage and Chris Henton are the big names going into the third heat with the former not enjoying a points scoring final in nine weeks since he won the Bryan Family Open, and Henton missing two straight after an eight-week run that contained six top four finishes and three runner-up spots.

Controlled Chaos - Halloween Derby Standings

After missing out this week due to a slight injury, making it five pointless rounds out of the last seven, Darryl Lozier's lead is now a slender six points after Will Thompson claimed his second event victory in Akron, and Scott Hutchins is just half a point back after back-to-back eighth place finishes.

Halloween Open runner-up John McCrory moves on up as does third place Jess Yates but both men remain entrenched in the middle of the standings. Tom Gariepy and Andy Bing keep hold of their top five positions with Joe Ramage (12th) and Norm Gibson (10th) making little noise; Chris Henton also misses out on making a splash by failing to qualify  for the final for the second straight time since making eight in a row.

Name	Pts	Derby Wins	Heat Wins
Darryl Lozier	165.5	4	4
Will Thompson	159.5	2	5
Scott Hutchens	159	2	4
Tom Gariepy	138.5	3	1
Andy Bing	136	4	3
Joe Ramage	121	2	1
Norm Gibson	119.5	2	1
Chris Henton	118	1	3
Ben Hadsell	110.5	2	5
Jamie Eilers	102	2	3
Will Murphy	102		2
Matt Welliver	81.5	1	4
John McCrory	77.5		1
Lynne Higgins	72		4
Leo May	70		3
Danny Krol	62	1	4
Steven Redden	61.5		1
Darrell Andresen	57		7
Jess Yates	50		3
Sam Harbin	50		1
Ricky Grimes	49	1	2
John Ruiz	48	1	3
Rob Remaley	45.5		2
Randy Corson	35		2
Charlie Clayton	32		2
Jason Ingle	30.5		2
Bobby Gallagher	27		2
Philip Ruffin	27		2
Dick Garrett	27		1
Don Davis	25		2
Ed Smith	24		2
Reggie Banks	22	1
Bob Alexander	22		2
Randy Tondreau	22		1
Timmy Barnes	14		1
Bambi Rogers	14		1
Kenny Rose	2		1
Billy Edgington	2
Tommy Miller	0
Bill Malbrough	0

Player of the Game Hockey - 1967/68 NHL Playoff SF's, April 27th 1968

Saturday 27th April 1968
West Division
Philadelphia Flyers @ Pittsburgh Penguins Game #4
With both teams going to their alternate goalies game four was on a knife edge throughout and extra time was needed in order to find a winner. The home fans' joy at taking an early lead through Ubriaco (3) was short lived as J Johnson (1) tied the game for the Flyers 1:07 later.

Pittsburgh regained the lead again early in the next period when Stratton (5) scored his third of the series, but again Philadelphia tied the game, this time Selby (3) on the powerplay. The third period was were a lot of nerves were frayed after the Flyers took the lead just two minutes into the third period, LaForge (4) getting on the board for the first time in the series, and that is how the score remained heading into the closing stages.

Pittsburgh pulled their goalie for the extra attacker and with sixty-five seconds left to play Dea (4) was setup by Ubriaco for the game-tying goal. The game headed into OT with Pittsburgh leading in shots 27-25.

The extra period was all Penguins as they enjoyed thirteen shots to the Flyers' five and at 12:04 it finally paid off as Ingarfield (1), who scored nine goals in the regular season, put home Fonteyne's rebound to keep Pittsburgh alive to fight another day.

		1st	2nd	3rd	OT	F
PHI	@	1	1	1	0	3
PIT		1	1	1	1	4

PHI Favell (3-1 .925 2.00) 36/40, Powerplay 1/3
PIT Bassen (1-0 .880 3.00) 22/25, Powerplay 0/4

Goalscorers:
1st Period
PIT Ubriaco (3) Speer 6:15
PHI J Johnson (1) Miszuk 7:22
2nd Period
PIT Stratton (5) Bathgate 3:03
PHI PPG Selby (3) Dornhoefer, Angotti 11:56
3rd Period
PHI LaForge (4) Peters 2:05
PIT Dea (4) Ubriaco 18:55
Overtime
PIT Ingarfield (1) Fonteyne, Schinkel 12:04

Philadelphia leads the best-of-seven series 3-1

Controlled Chaos - Halloween Derby Final

Halloween Derby - Akron, OH
Final
Ben Hadsell, Ed Smith, Norm Gibson, Jess Yates, John McCrory, Bambi Rogers, Scott Hutchins, Will Thompson, Darrell Andresen, Matt Welliver, Bill Malbrough, Joe Ramage

It took less than two minutes for Joe Ramage (1st Valentine's Day Massacre, 1st Bryan Family Open) to fall by the wayside in his twelfth final thanks to Ben Hadsell's massive hit, and, while he lasted until the sixth minute, Bill Malbrough's final debut ended when his gas tank was judged to be unsecured just as he had re-fired a long stall caused by Ed Smith's attentions.

Norm Gibson (1st Lobster Nationals, Tied-2nd Summer National Derby, 1st Texas Nationals, 2nd Louisiana Invitational) was nearly finished as soon as he started with a fire needing to be extinguished as soon as the green light came on. As a result it didn't take much to wipe him out as Bambi Rogers slid into him to end his day in tenth, giving Gibson his first point in three weeks.

Darrel Andresen's (4th Indy Nationals, 5th Firecracker Open, 5th Arkansas Derby) seventh heat victory ends with another top ten finish, only failing to score in two of his thirteen appearances this year. Taking on Malbrough before Matt Welliver caught him unawares Andresen then went to take on  McCrory but that shot bounced him into the barriers where he would remain.

With championship leader Darryl Lozier out for the week it was missed opportunity when Scott Hutchins (1st Seattle, 2nd Big Apple, 2nd Lobster, 1st Bluegrass Derby), in his fifth consecutive final, only managed to take home three points for finishing eighth. An early stall was saved and followed by attacks on Welliverand Hadsell, but a blindsider from Rogers set him up nicely for Jess Yates to finish off.

It took seven hits to bring down the co-winner of heat three Ed Smith (7th Ohio Derby, 4th Mile High Open, 7th Bluegrass) as Hadsell and Welliver smashed him around with three hits a piece, and Ben Hadsell (1st Frostbite, Tied-2nd Summer National, 2nd Texas, 1st Fall Nationals) suffered from his own attacks on Yates, Rogers and Welliver after only taking four hits and avoiding much of the trouble.

A top five finish for Bambi Rogers (6th Arkansas, 11th Bryan Family Open) came after she too suffered only four hits against, delivering seven of her own on six different opponents, and Matt Welliver (1st SidelineStrategy.com Derby, 2nd Golden Gate Invitational, 3rd Fall) claims his fourth top four finish in seven weeks after winning the battles with Smith and Rogers; both targets making up five of his seven hits.

Jess Yates (4th Summer Sizzler, 3rd Arkansas, 5th Bluegrass) has finishedno worse than eighth, with four finishes coming in the top five four times this year, but sadly for him has only qualified for eight finals. This, his second podium, came with six hits against and six delivered as a stall midway through the thirteen minute final halted his positive progress and left him open to the pack.

His executioner for the day was runner-up John McCrory (3rd Seattle, Tied-4th SidelineStrategy.com, 2nd Ohio) who, in just his second final in six weeks, was standing still more than he was moving as situations that left him stalled or stuck frequently occurred. He was embedded into the barriers three minutes in after Thompson and Andresen forced him through, but after long stay he was able to free himself. Four of his six hits came after this event but a late miss sent him back to the scenery where he stalled for the round winner to pick his spot.

Will Thompson (1st Arizona, 2nd Sizzler, 2nd Bryan Family) takes his second event win of the year and ninth top five finish in his twenty-first final, jumping him up into second place in the standings half a point ahead of Hutchins and six points back of Lozier.

Only eight hits delivered in the final Thompson judged them well to cause minimal damage to himself, but even then a vicious strike from Jess Yates upset his vehicle enough to stop for a moment. A near miss with the wall and a narrowly avoided blindside attempt, either connecting would have surely spelt disaster, came next before he rammed McCrory for the killer blow. That was his second attack on the runner-up with Andresen also taking two attacks; Gibson, Hadsell,and Welliver made up the rest of the hits.

Race Result
1. Will Thompson
2. John McCrory
3. Jess Yates
4. Matt Welliver
5. Bambi Rogers
6. Ben Hadsell
7. Ed Smith
8. Scott Hutchins
9. Darrell Andresen
10. Norm Gibson
11. Bill Malbrough
12. Joe Ramage

Controlled Chaos - Halloween Open, Consolation Heat

Halloween Open - Akron, OH
Consolation Heat
Timmy Barnes, Andy Bing, Jamie Eilers, Norm Gibson, Charlie Clayton, Ricky Grimes, Will Thompson, Dick Garrett, Joe Ramage, Tom Gariepy, Jason Ingle, Kenny Rose

Kenny Rose (12th Ides of March, 12th Lobster Nationals, 12th Texas Nationals) was not permitted to take part in the consolation heat as his team was unable to fix up the fuel tank problems that disqualified him from the second heat.

Timmy Barnes (12th Spring Fling Derby, 4th Big Apple Smash Up, 8th Bluegrass Derby) was helpless as the pack descended upon him, striking him six times for an early exit, and Ricky Grimes (3rd Jersey Derby, 3rd Texas, 1st Louisiana Invitational) misses the tenth final out of the past twelve despite only taking a hit each from Thompson and Ramage. Grimes' miss five minutes in was a catastrophic one as he impaled his vehicle into the barriers.

Jamie Eilers was a multiple target of Grimes and Jason Ingle (Tied-5th Lobster, 7th Louisiana, 3rd, Mile High Open) delivered his own double-tap to Eilers but was unable to avoid the five cars around him that initiated contact.

Andy Bing was handed a disqualification in eighth place for his third shot on Gariepy, and Tom Gariepy (1st Wisconsin Invitational, 1st Arkansas Derby, 1st Mile High) still has just ten finals to his name as he misses a third out of the last four (4th Fall Nationals). He attacked Ramage twice, Garrett, Barnes and Thompson once each, but Andy Bing's trio of hits were enough to clean him out, and Charlie Clayton (5th Texas, 6th Ohio Derby, 6th Bluegrass) misses his eighth final out of twelve as Norm Gibson led the charge on him with three hard shots as they dueled hard from the very beginning, locking themselves together for a time in the process.

Jamie Eilers (1st Summer Sizzler, 1st Summer National Derby) misses a fourth straight final for the first time this year as the early assaults he endured finally took their toll, leading to a fatal stall after he rampaged over Gibson with three hits, and  Dick Garrett (6th Ides, 5th Seattle) comes agonisingly close to qualification for his first final in sixteen weeks, but the late combination of  Gibson and Thompson soon crushed his dreams.

So Will Thompson, Norm Gibson, and Joe Ramage all move on into the twenty-ninth final of the season. The trio combine for forty-three appearances with four wins and seventeen podiums. While Gibson was qualifying for his first final in three weeks by hounding Clayton to ground before moving onto double-tap Garrett, Will Thompson was carving through anything that moved, eventually settling on Garrett himself after re-firing a brief stall.

Joe Ramage has gone pointless in seven straight weeks despite reaching three finals but here he squeaks in after hitting Grimes twice and a plethora of opponents once each, and it all nearly came undone at the end when Dick Garett rocked him good.

Race Result
Q. Norm Gibson
Q. Will Thompson
Q. Joe Ramage
4. Dick Garrett
5. Jamie Eilers
6. Charlie Clayton
7. Tom Gariepy
8. Andy Bing
9. Jason Ingle
10. Rickey Grimes
11. Timmy Barnes
12. Kenny Rose (DNS)

Player of the Game Hockey - 1967/68 Playoff SF's, 25th April 1968

Thursday 25th April 1968
East Division
Montreal Canadiens @ Toronto Maple Leafs Game #3
For the second game running Toronto were able to put four goals past Canadiens' netminder Worsley, peppering him with thirty-four shots, but Montreal retook the series lead with eight goals on forty-two shots.

It was 4-0 Habs after just 14:22 in the first period as they rampantly came at Bower and the Leafs defence in waves. T Harris (2), Rousseau (2), G Tremblay (4), and Beliveau (8) who enjoyed a three-point night, sharing the wealth before Walton (6) scored twice in seven seconds at the end of the frame to make it 4-2.

Montreal responded early in the middle period with two goals 101 apart, Rousseau (3) scoring again and Provost (1) opening his postseason account unassisted. But again the Leafs tried to fight back and it was Ellis (6) who got himself a brace to go with his two earlier helpers.

After Ferguson (4) made it 7-4 and Rousseau (4) completed his hat-trick the rout was complete.

		1st	2nd	3rd	OT	F
MON	@	4	2	2		8
TOR		2	2	0		4

MON Worsley (6-3 .906 2.89) 30/34, Powerplay 2/4
TOR Bower (5-2 .892 3.14) 34/42, Powerplay 1/4

Goalscorers:
1st Period
MON PPG T Harris (2) Lamaire 4:47
MON Rousseau (2) Savard, Larose 6:39
MON G Tremblay (4) Provost, Backstrom 12:06
MON Beliveau (8) Vadnais 14:22
TOR Walton (5) Ellis 18:54
TOR Walton (6) Stanley, Ellis 19:01
2nd Period
MON PPG Rousseau (3) Beliveau 4:19
MON Provost (1) unassisted 5:20
TOR Ellis (5) Stanley 8:41
TOR PPG Ellis (6) F Mahovlich, Walton 17:10
3rd Period
MON Ferguson (4) Harper, Beliveau 2:59
MON Rousseau (4) T Harris 10:35

Montreal leads the best-of-seven game series 2-1

West Division
Philadelphia Flyers @ Pittsburgh Penguins Game #3
There were some rumblings from the Flyer fans after the game as Pittsburgh had seven powerplays to their sides' zero, but they cannot complain more than that after outshooting and outscoring the Penguins to move within one game of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Sutherland (7) and his unassisted effort was the only goal in the first period as they dominated the opening twenty minutes with Philadelphia getting twelve shots on net compared to just three from Pittsburgh.

McDonald (4) got the Pens level eight minutes into the second period as they edged out the Flyers eleven to nine in shots but Philadelphia restored their lead late with Rochefort (5) hitting the twine at 18:50. It was Rochefort (6) again just eleven seconds into the third that made it 3-1 with Hannigan (3) all but sealing the win midway through the frame.

Pittsburgh added one more goal as MacNeil (1) scored with only two seconds remaining and the Penguins are sixty minutes away from being eliminated.

		1st	2nd	3rd	OT	F
PHI	@	1	1	2		4
PIT		0	1	1		2

PHI Parent (4-3 .903 2.86) 21/23, Powerplay 0/0
PIT Binkley (4-3 .921 2.29) 31/35, Powerplay 1/7

Goalscorers:
1st Period
PHI Sutherland (7) unassisted 13:32
2nd Period
PIT PPG McDonald (4) Bathgate 8:00
PHI Rochefort (5) Van Impe 18:50
3rd Period
PHI Rochefort (6) Sutherland, Hoekstra 0:11
PHI Hannigan (3) Zeidel 10:43
PIT MacNeil (1) Ubriaco, Andrea 19:58

Philadelphia leads the best-of-seven series 3-0

Controlled Chaos - Halloween Open, Heat Three

Halloween Open - Akron, OH
Heat Three
Will Murphy, Charlie Clayton, Rob Remaley, Bob Alexander, Bambi Rogers, Ed Smith, Don Davis, Jason Ingle, Matt Welliver, Reggie Banks, Will Thompson, Jamie Eilers

The final heat saw no early exits and it wasn't until four minutes in that Rob Remaley (3rd Ides of March, 4th Seattle Derby, Tied-4th Summer National Derby) took his fifth hit against for the first elimination, forcing him to miss an eleventh straight final, and then quickly afterwards Bob Alexander (6th Arizona Derby, 3rd Lobster Nationals, 9th Texas Nationals) received the same treatment to leave him without a point in thirteen weeks despite a pair of final appearances.

Another back-to-back elimination occurred two minutes later when Reggie Banks (1st Firecracker Open, 10th Ohio Derby, 10th Fall Nationals) was swarmed over by Ingle and Welliver after two blindside hits from Will Thompson, and then Will Murphy (2nd Tampa, 3rd Spring Fling Derby, 3rd Idaho Invitational, 3rd Big Apple Smash Up) receives a double-tap from Clayton to leave him with three finals in the past seventeen events. This after starting the season with eight appearances in the first thirteen.

Don Davis (2nd Jersey Derby, 7th Summer Sizzler, 9th Arkansas Derby), in for the injured Billy Edgington, produced one attack, that striking the vehicle of Jamie Eilers, with the rest of his heat re-firing a stall, extricating himself from the barriers and warring with Jason Ingle, a battle he would ultimately lose.

Davis' loss by finishing eighth is the gain of Clayton, Ingle, Thompson and Eilers with Clayton stalling, re-firing and then pulling out with a fire. Ingle attacked both Remaley and Alexander twice each as part of his seven hits delivered while Will Thompson started strongly with seven consecutive hits before a pair of misses and a stall continued to leave him open to the pack. The final consolation heat entrant, Jamie Eilers, could not earn an automatic final place after Matt Welliver forced him into the barriers and continued to assault his prone opponent.

Welliver had to end up settling for third place, taking him to his twelfth final this year and fifth appearance in seven, but he was seconds away from not getting anywhere near that accolade due to stalling at the very start and barely getting the engine re-fired in time. Davis and Thompson both took a single shot off of him but Banks took a pair and Eilers three in a row before Ed Smith charged in to wipe out Welliver.

For the second heat running there was a tiebreak situation but this time the points were shared as Bambi Rogers, reaching her first final in eight weeks and third all time, was involved in a unique tie with Ed Smith, entering his fifth final of the year.

Rogers was on form with ten hits and only a late shot by Smith stopped her in her tracks by causing a fatal stall, Smith, who was struck twice early on by his final opponent, doubled up on Davis, Murphy and Thompson as he landed eleven hits on the pack but in the end a rut in the torn-up arena pushed him offline and he somehow missed a stalled Rogers and crashed into the wall. Circumstances got a little stranger still as the officials were just counting out Bambi when Ed made contact, resulting in a tied heat win.

Race Result
1. Ed Smith
1. Bambi Rogers
3. Matt Welliver
4. Jamie Eilers
5. Will Thompson
6. Jason Ingle
7. Charlie Clayton
8. Don Davis
9. Will Muprhy
10. Reggie Banks
11. Bob Alexander
12. Rob Remaley