It's All About The Benjamin: Defensman's 5 Goal Performance Vaults Comrades to Second Round

It was far from the style of playoff hockey that the Red Army played last postseason, but it was effective. In a back and forth, run and gun game on Sunday night, the Soviets narrowly escaped the Cryptic Stench, edging their rivals by the score of 9-8 thanks in large part to the defenseman-turned-offenseman's offensive explosion.

"We knew he was capable of scoring," Jamie Simek, who led the team in playing time with 28:31, said. "But we didn't know he could score like that."

Simek was referring to Breiterman, a player normally renown for his work on the other end of the rink. Tonight though, it was all about playing in the other team's end.

"It was one of those nights where everything I shot went in," a modest Breiterman said after the game. "I think a lot of it was them covering Mark and leaving me alone. Maybe they didn't know that I was just as dangerous. Though, I mean, who doesn't check the statistics? You think they would have seen me on there. That's pretty poor scouting."

For all of the offense that the pair of Hendricks and Breiterman created, they did find themselves behind the eight ball early in the game. After surrendering an early goal, the deficit was increased to two on the ensuing shift.

"It's no secret that my biggest enemy is the first period," Andy Schram said. "I don't think there is panic because I know the guys can get it back, but one of these days I'm going to stop that first shot, and second. The third? Well, I have give them something."

Hendricks started the scoring for the Soviets on a nifty no-look backhander. After being denied on back to back chances down low, Hendricks corralled a pass from Breiterman in the slot, faked a wrist shot on the forehand, and then turned and fired a backhander that beat the surprised goalie. A minute later, after a fantastic forecheck by Brian Lynch, Hendricks intercepted an outlet pass and fed Breiterman. Breiterman one timed the puck home to knot the score at two.

"I just went in there like a heat-seeking missile," Lynch said. "I work for Orbital, so I know a lot about rocket science. I apply the same physics to my skating as I do to thrusters designed to lift satellites into space."

Hendricks would give the Comrades their first lead of the game later in the period, when he used a defender as a screen and fired a snap shot just inside the post on the blocker side.

"I wasn't getting many one on one chances, so when I did, I had to convert," Hendricks said. "Also, I felt relaxed with my favorite song in my head." Hendricks then began to sing "I got a quarter, I got a quarter, I got a quarter, Hey! Hey! Hey! I got a quarter, I got a quarter, I got a quarter, and it's all mine!"

If Hendricks and Breiterman dominated the end of the first period, then Tony Horton and Steve Hand owned and operated the start of the second. Hand deflected a pass to make the lead 4-2 and moments later scored on a nearly-zero angle shot to make it 5-2.

"We were pretty pumped up at that point," the captain said. "We know if we're going to go anywhere this postseason we're going to need to contribute. It was big for us, and our confidence. I might go ask out that Cara girl now."

But a problem that has persisted all year reared its ugly ahead again, as a team stocked full of nice guys lacks a killer instinct, and the Cryptic Stench, like an accidental fart that escapes even the hardest clenched of buttcheeks, lingered far too long. The lead that was three goals, became two, and then one.

"We had a few let downs in our own end," Horton said. "We may not have been backchecking hard enough, or we may not have been talking enough, but we had letdowns, and they capitalized."

With the score close again, Breiterman joined countrymen Hand and Hendricks in the two goal club. After Hendricks jostled for the puck along the far boards, Breiterman scooped the loose puck and fired a wrist shot that beat the goalie high glove side.

The two goal lead that should have been carried into the third period was halved well after the buzzer just before the buzzer when a Stench skater intercepted an errant pass and fired one past Schram as time expired. The referees convened to decide what had transpired, and after a brief phone call to Toronto, the decision on the rink stood, it was a goal.

"That was a pretty [bogus] call if you ask me," Brad Lotocki said. "I mean, Scott was saying he saw the puck on the guy's stick with 0.2 seconds left. Unless you're taking a slap shot and you play in the NHL, that puck isn't going thirty something feet in one-fifth of a second. He took a wrister and to me, it wasn't even close."

Despite Lotocki's wishes, the cold hard facts were this: going into the final period, it was a one goal game.

"I think I just tried to keep everyone level-headed," Hendricks said. "The third period has been our period for as long as I can remember, and no matter what happened at the end of the second, we were still winning. It was our game to win or our game to lose."

It was evident how Breiterman felt on the matter. On the first shift of the period, Breiterman took the puck in from the half boards and fired a low wrister that beat the goalie to the post, giving him a hat trick and the Soviets a 7-5 lead.

Then, in predictable fashion, the Stench scored.

Not to be outdone, Breiterman scored again. Hendricks drove to the net hoping for a pass, but was taken down in the crease. With him and a defenseman tangled up, Breiterman opted for the wraparound and successfully tucked the puck under the goalie. The Stench argued that there had been goaltender interference on the play, but it was to no avail. With five minutes to play, the Red Army had opened up an 8-6 lead.

After a poor backchecking effort made the lead 8-7, Breiterman added one for the thumb, as he took a pass from Horton and raced the length of the rink to fire a snap shot over the goalie's shoulder again. It all but added the final nail in the coffin.

The Stench would bring it to within one with 18 seconds remaining, but they would not muster another shot after the ensuing faceoff. The puck was iced, the final seconds bled off the clock, and the Red Army was advancing.

"When that buzzer sounded I was feeling jacked," Scott Hoefer said. "Not only had I found a quarter earlier in the day, but we had also won. Best...day...ever?!?"

Now that the first round is completely done and the dust has settled, here is what the playoff picture looks like right now:

#5 Red Army vs #8 Shockers
#6 Daggermouth vs #7 Grenades

Yes, for the first time in the league's 134 year history, all four favored teams were upset in the first round. The Red Army's record versus the remaining three teams? It's 4-2, including being 2-0 against the Shockers. Of course it doesn't mean much, but it's still nice.

OTHER NOTES:
-This is the Soviets' 5th consecutive win in the postseason
-Four of the last five playoff games have been decided by one goal, with the Red Army winning all of them
-Breiterman's five goal performance was the most goals scored by a Comrade in a playoff game in the new sickle and hammer jersey era
-The Red Army has now won at least one playoff game in three consecutive seasons, which is a franchise record.
-The team is off tomorrow, but expect a light update

THREE STARS:
3: Steve Hand
2: Jamie Simek
1: Ben Breiterman