FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS • There's certainly never a dull moment when the O'Fallon and Belleville East hockey teams get together.
The Panthers and Lancers combined for 12 goals -- including nine on special teams -- and 55 penalty minutes, as O'Fallon earned a 7-5 win in Game 2 of the teams' best-of-three Mississippi Valley Club Hockey Association Class 2A South Division first-round playoff series Thursday at U.S. Ice Sports Complex.
With the win, the Panthers sweep the series in two games and advance to take on top-seeded Althoff in the Class 2A South Division finals.
"John (Thompson, Belleville East's coach) and I were talking and we were just hoping this would be just as exciting as Game 1 (an 8-7 O'Fallon win) and I think it was," Panthers coach Ken Barnhill said. "We're lucky we came out on the good side for both of them. Our kids pulled it together and played very well."
Belleville East saw its season end for the second straight year in the same round against the same opponent.
"It's a pretty spirited rivalry and it has been for a while," Thompson said. "It was a fun series, but it's too bad we came up on the short end."
O'Fallon jumped on top at the 6:24 mark of the first period when Seth Riggan skated in on left wing, moved between the slots and sent a wrist shot through the legs of Belleville East goalie John Fink.
The Lancers tied it with 2:19 to go in the first period when Zach Thompson took a pass in front from Dylan Schmitz and buried a power-play goal.
Panthers goalie Justin Lewis made a couple key saves inside the first minute of the second period to keep the game knotted.
"I've got to give it up to Lewis," John Thompson said. "I thought he was phenomenal in the series. He was an all-star and I thought he was the best goalie in the all-star game a couple weeks ago. Hopefully, he'll carry them through the playoffs."
Those saves would be huge because Ruben Chavarria would put O'Fallon back on top just a minute later with a blast off a centering pass from Henry Hunsaker.
Then, it was time for each squad's special teams units to really kick into gear.
Chavarria picked the pocket of a Belleville East defenseman, skated in alone and made a great move to the backhand for a short-handed goal at the 6:00 mark to make it 3-1.
The Lancers, though, would answer with a short-handed tally of their own when Zach Thompson's shot through the traffic found its way in at the 7:23 mark.
East would then tie it on a power-play goal by Alec Pellegrino, as he beat Lewis to the short side with 4:06 to go in the second period.
But, the Panthers would answer with a power-play goal of their own when Hunsaker pounced on a rebound and knocked it in on the backhand for a 4-3 lead with 2:28 remaining in the second.
Thompson would tie it again when he scored just six seconds into a power play at the 4:02 mark of the third period, but O'Fallon's Jimmy Simmons would make it six straight special-teams goals with a man-advantage tally just 1:19 later when he took a centering pass from Mitch Barnhill and buried it.
"That was really a pretty goal," Ken Barnhill said. "Mitch did a great job leading the rush, controlling the puck down low and Jimmy actually did what East had been doing to us by filling up the middle. That was the difference right there. It was a big, big goal."
The Panthers would get a huge goal just 35 seconds later when Austin Graf pounced on a rebound to make it 6-4. For the night, Graf and linemates Chavarria and Hunsaker accounted for five of the team's seven goals.
"All three of those guys are juniors and it's like they know where each other is located on the ice at all times," Barnhill said. "I see it in practice all the time and it's fun to see it in games. They just work the puck so well and, when they're on, it's a game-changer for us."
Nick Edwards would answer for East with his team's fourth power-play goal with 4:56 to go, but things got very chippy at that point.
Of the game's 55 penalty minutes, 29 came in the final 4:56, including two 10-minute misconducts (one on each team).
"Some of the calls, I thought, were questionable going both ways," John Thompson said. "It's kind of tough when the kids are playing in their last game of the year and the referees are coming up with some new and exciting ways to insert themselves into the game."
O'Fallon had a pair of 5-on-3s in that stretch and got a power-play goal from Graf into an empty net with 6.4 seconds left to seal the win and another shot at Althoff, who eliminated the Panthers in last year's division finals.
As of now, the best-of-three series is slated to begin on Feb. 13, but the start may get bumped up a week to this Monday since neither team had to play a decisive third game next week.
"I don't know if the MVCHA is gonna move the schedule up or not," Barnhill said. "Althoff is just a solid team with so many good players. We're gonna need to come to play."
In other playoff action Thursday at U.S. Ice Sports Complex ...
COLUMBIA 7, FREEBURG 1 • Kyle Steibel had a hat trick and Matt Royer and Alex Nanna also had big nights, as the top-seeded Eagles swept the No. 4 seed Blue Rage in a Class 1A East Division best-of-three first-round series.
Royer led all players with four points on two goals and two assists, while Nanna had a pair of goals and an assist for Columbia, which outshot Freeburg 47-6. In addition, Joseph Bert racked up three assists, while Mitchell Cookson and Michael Juenger each had a pair of helpers.
With the win, the Eagles advance to play either Collinsville or Triad. That first-round series resumes Monday with the second-seeded Kahoks up 1-0.
The Blue Rage, which escaped the first period scoreless despite being outshot 14-1, got its only goal from Adam Gauch on a power play.
