Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Baptized by fire in the first playoff game of their university careers, 10 rookies appeared in the lineup for the MacEwan Griffins in Game 1 of their Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference quarter-final matchup against Concordia on Friday.
The script wasn't perfect with so many Griffins going through a learning curve in adjusting to the intensity of ACAC playoff hockey, but they had two very distinct veteran examples to follow.
Both Andrew Kartusch and Cam Gotaas scored twice as the Griffins skated to a 4-1 win over the visiting Thunder to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.
"I think for us, we've got a lot of young guys and it's their first taste of playoff hockey," said head coach Mike Ringrose. "So, I think that's good to get it under your belt and understand that the urgency and intensity comes up.
"As a group, we maybe didn't start the way we wanted to tonight, but we'll be better for it and ready to go the rest of the way."
Technically, their first shift was a dream start as Gotaas scored the game's opening goal just 30 seconds in when he plucked a rebound off Tanner McCorriston's pad and tapped it in.
But after that, the Griffins fought the puck a bit and Concordia earned a powerplay goal to tie the game 6:47 into the contest when Scott Allan's point shot went off traffic, changed direction and went past Marc-Olivier Daigle.
With the game in the balance early, the Griffins needed a hero to step up and second-year defenceman Kartusch was happy to fill that role, scoring back-to-back goals before the period was out and firmly entrenching the momentum in their corner.
"He's a beast," said Ringrose. "Two goals for us and then he's obviously so big and strong and hard to play against (at the defensive end). He's got a letter on a jersey for a reason.
"I thought he stepped up at the end of the first period there when we needed a couple of big plays and made them for us. Credit to him. Really good job tonight."
Andrew Kartusch leans into a shot that beat Tanner McCorriston for the game-winning goal 10:01 into the contest. The second-year defenceman scored twice for the Griffins (Jake Bradley photo).
At 9:59 of the first period, Kartusch walked the puck through a defender at the blueline, beat another wide and wired a wicked wrister that squeaked through McCorriston's equipment for a goal that would prove to the be the game-winner.
Kartusch then added the insurance marker on a 5-on-3 powerplay with 12 seconds left in the opening period, finishing off a tic-tac-toe passing play from Bryan Arneson and Zach Webb with a high blocker-side slapshot that hit the mesh like an exclamation point on the proceedings.
"It was huge – just the energy it gave us," said the 2018-19 ACAC's rookie of the year. "It took us to a whole new level there.
"That second goal was a huge goal, third was a huge goal and the fourth was a huge goal. All those goals were big, and we ended up getting the win on the night and that's all that matters."
MacEwan's fourth goal was a highlight-reel play from Gotaas 3:52 into the second period. The fourth-year captain received a hard pass up the middle from Austin Yaremchuk, before cutting hard to the net past a defender and throwing a fancy move on McCorriston, depositing it in over his blocker.
From there, the Griffins gave the Thunder fits with their speed and pinpoint passing, but alternatively gave up several solid chances at the other end.
"We can't really complicate it that much – just keep it simple," said Kartusch. "It's a whole different game out there. It's playoffs. Anything can happen. We've just got to play how we have all season and it's going to give us success."
Bryan Arneson tries to escape the check of a pair of Concordia defenders on Friday night (Jake Bradley photo).
McCorriston stopped 35 of 39 for the Thunder, including denying Arneson, swiftly flying out of the corner to the net late in the second, and getting a shoulder on Kole Gable's hot shot from the slot early in the third.
At the other end, Daigle stopped 34 of 35, including finding his feet out of a scramble in front to deny Peter Tomaras late in the second and stopping Chad Hurtubise on a one-timer off a pass from Brandon Wallis from behind the net late in the third.
All in all, a win's a win, even if it wasn't a perfect one for the Griffins.
"I thought we were OK," said Ringrose. "We were a little timid off the start and found a way to get a couple in the first period to get a little separation.
"We got another one in the second on a really nice transition – exactly how we want to play the game. Then we were able to do enough, manage pucks and take it the rest of the way. We'll take it and we'll get refueled and ready to go tomorrow."
Game 2 of the series goes on Saturday (7 p.m., Clareview Arena, ACAC TV). If necessary, Game 3 will be played on Sunday (1 p.m., Downtown Community Arena, ACAC TV).
