1981 PRINCE OF WALES CONFERENCE QUARTER FINAL #1
| OHIO vs. PHILADELPHIA | |
| Game 1 Ohio comes to town. The Legends have played Philly tough all year and they expect nothing less in this series. | |
| GAME #1 | 1st- The Rat wastes no time in putting the Legends on the PP ( a theme) as he cross checks Bernie Federko 30 seconds into the game. The Legends pepper Sevigny with 8 shots on the PP but he stands tall. minutes after the PP ends the Rat takes a charging penalty. This time Ohio makes Philly pay as Maloneyfires one behind Sevigny. The Legends would be on the PP 2 more times as Maruk and Bridgeman both take tripping penalties but again Sevigny doesn’t give up a goal and with just 2 minutes left in the period The Rat finds Peter Lee breaking in on Mio and Lee ties up the game. The period ends with Ohio outshooting Philly 17-6
2nd Period – 2 more PP for Ohio but Sevigny continues to stymie Ohio. Not to be outdone Mio shuts down philly as well as the period ends 1-1 Philly this time out shoots Ohio 16-6 3rd- Ohio takes the lead 2-1 as Kerr gets his 1st from Federko and Lariviere. But minutes later Denis MAruk snakes his way into the slot and beats Mio glove side from Hardy and Anderson. Two minutes later the GOFD Paul Holmgren beats Mio with a slapshot from Boxxy and Bridgeman. Youghans goes off on a holding penalty and Philly makes them pay as Denis Maruk gets his 2nd of the game from Schmautz and Anderson. Next shift Marcel Dionne puts the final nail in coffin from the Rat and Lee STARS Mio had 31 saves Ohio was just 1-6 on the PP Philly outhit Ohio 30-18 PHILLY 5 OHIO 2 Game one is in the books it look bleak for thehome town team as they continue to take dumb penalties but Sevigny kept them in the game |
| GAME #2 | 1st Period – Game starts off like a good playoff game with Busniuk and Williams taking roughing penalties letting everyone that they dont like each other. With the teams on a 4 on 4 Marcel Dionne gets his 2nd on a wrap around from Langway. Not to be undone Bernie Federko does the same getting one past Sevigny to tie up the game at 1-1
The the wheels fell off the Legends cart as Philly goes on to score 9 unanswered goals Lee PP (2) from Dionne 2nd 3rd Stars Shots 52-20 |
| Philly explodes in game 2 but now they have to go back to Ohio where the Legends are tough!
Game three of the Conference quarterfinals comes to Ohio. The Legends trail number two-seeded Philadelphia, two games to none. The Firebirds outscored the Legends, 15-4, in those contests in the Quaker State. It’s time to see if this series is going to narrow or if the Firebirds are headed for the kill. |
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| GAME #3 | The first period did not have any scoring, but there was plenty of physicality. With 23 seconds remaining, Rissling and Cochrane exchanged punches and each went off for five minutes and Garry Howatt picked up a ten minute misconduct. The shots in the opening stanza favored Ohio, 9-8. Each team put up five scoring chances and both went zero-for-two on the power play.
In the second, Philadelphia broke the seal on scoring at 2:00, as John Van Boxmeer collected his second goal of the series finishing a two-on-one rush with Paul Holmgren. The shot beat Eddie Mio low to the glove side. At 3:18, Ohio got the goal back as Bernie Federko netted his second of the series, as Tim Kerr and Brett Callighen handed out the helpers. The Legends pulled goalie Mio for the extra attacker as a delayed penalty on Al Secord was coming for tripping. That tied the game up at one apiece. Secord redeemed himself at 14:06 of the second, finishing a goal mouth scramble as Mel Bridgman and Jamie Hislop picked up the assists and Philadelphia took a 2-1 lead into the second intermission. Ohio held the edge in shot sin the frame, 11-9. The Firebirds out-chanced Ohio, 5-1. At 15:34 of the second, Secord took a five minute major penalty, delivering a spear to Callighen and had 26 seconds of penalty time to wipe out at the start of the third period. Federko needed just 19 seconds of the third to get the scores levelled at two apiece. His second goal of the night and third of the postseason came off of a wraparound unassisted. The rest of the third saw up-and-down play–but neither team was able to score and as the final seconds ran down, it was apparent that this game would go to overtime! Ohio dominated the third period shots, 16-10 and the Legends also held the edge in chances, 6-4. Bonus hockey upcoming! One shot is all it takes to send everyone home….. Philadelphia controlled play in the opening moments, cranking off three shots on Mio–all coming off of chances. At 2:21 of the overtime, Don Maloney collected his second score of the postseason. Maloney finished off a three-on-one rush with Glen Sharpley and Blair MacDonald handing out the assists. The score assured Ohio of not being swept in its inaugural season’s playoff push. The final numbers saw the Legends win the shots battle for the game, 36-30. The chances went to the Firebirds, 17-13. Ohio was one-for-five with the man-advantage, while Philadelphia was zero-for-two. Federko was the number one star with his two goals, Maloney with a goal and seven hits was the number two stars. Eddie Mio stopped 28 shots for the third star nominee. Richard Sevigny stopped 33 shots for Philadelphia. Philadelphia leads the best-of-seven series, two games to one, with game four coming up in Ohio. There will be at least a game five at the Firebirds home facility later in the week. |
| GAME #4 | Game four of the Conference semi-finals see Ohio hosting Philadelphia. The Firebirds lead the best-of-seven series, two games to one. The pivotal game will either even the series at two games apiece or will put Philadelphia a win away from advancing.
As usual, the teams come out physically banging and the penalties start right from the beginning. The Legends open the scoring at 6:35, as Brett Callighen tipped in a Tim Kerr shot for the early lead. Just 13 seconds later, Glen Sharpley netted his first of the poseason from Blair MacDonald and Don Maloney and Ohio opened a 2-0 edge. The period ended with the score this way and the Firebirds holding a 10-9 shots edge. In the second, Ohio advanced the lead further to 3-0, as Sharpley picked up his second of the night on a delayed penalty to Randy Carlyle and the six-on-fve came on an odd man rush. Maloney and Ron Stackhouse had the helpers. Philadelphia got on the board at 17:41, when John VanBoxmeer picked up his third of the playoffs–firing a shot through a screen from the point. The period ended with Ohio holding a 3-1 lead and the shots once again favored the Firebirds, 10-3. It took just 42 seconds into the third period for Philadelphia to narrow the edge, as Marcel Dionne slipped his third of the postseason past Eddie Mio on a wraparound and the scored was 3-2 with less than a minute played. Less than a minute later, the Firebirds were shortened on the bench when Carlyle left the game with a leg injury and did not return. Playing with five defensemen, it was another rearguard–Craig Hartsburg that knotted the scores at three apiece, when the odd-man rush with Bobby Schmautz hit the back of the net. Philadelphia grabbed the lead for good with the game’s final goal at 12:46. It was Lee’s fourth of the playoffs and went glove side with Ken Linseman and Dionne adding the assists. Ohio had another opportunity late, as Lindy Ruff went off with an elbow injury with 3:56 to go and finished the game with 16 skaters. The Legends pulled the goalie with 1:38 to go and put two shots on Richard Sevingy–but could not get the game tied. In the third, Ohio outshot Philadelphia, 15-7, but was unable to score. For the game, the shots were even at 27 apiece. Philadelphia had twelve scoring chances to the Legends eight and Ohio went zero-for-three with the man-advantage, while the Firebirds did not score in their only power play opportunity. Sevigny picked up the win with 24 stops, while Mio turned away 23 shots in the loss. Marcel Dionne was the game’s number one star with a goal and two assists. Van Boxmeer was the second star with a goal and an assist and Ohio’s Sharpley was the third star with a pair of goals. |
| Philadelphia now holds a three games to one edge and with two games on home ice remaining–appears to be a lock for advancing to the conference finals. The series shifts to the Quaker State and Ohio must wonder what might have been after watching a three-goal edge evaporate. | |
| GAME #5 | Game 5 in Philly – Birds up 3 game to 1
1st- 5 minutes into r=the game Callighen injured his knee and will not return 2nd- Hard hitting 2nd period but Maloney ties up the game with his 3rd knocking the water bottle off the goal from Sharpley and MacDonald 3rd- With Schmautz off for Hooking Bernie Federko puts Ohio up 3-2 with his 4th from Roberts and Williams. Later Dionne breaks in alone on Mio STONED…minutes later Martin breaks in all alone and is STONED .. Martin makes up for it later as he scores unassisted tieing it up with his 3rd. With 3 minutes to go Carlyle gets his 3rd from Lee and Linseman. The Legends pull their goaling and put on the pressure…but Sevigny holds dow the forst and Philly survives and moves on 4-3 Stars Philly outshoots Ohio 41-21 PHILLY 4 OHIO 3 Philly moves on to the Moose. But Ohio gave them a fight from beginning to end and will be a team to beat next season ! |