Moose put up a good fight, but Bradford wins game 5 to advance!
March 5th, 2009 at 6:31AM November 30th, 2011 6:30PM
The Moose went into game 5 with high expectations to be the first team to knock off defending champion Bradford, but in the end, the Rattlers proved too much in the deciding game 5 of the opening round series.
For the first time in many games, the Moose were able to ice only 16 skaters, and that proved to be a significant factor. Missing from the lineup were Jon Minard(shoulder), Luigi Martone(concussion), Radim Jurena(school), Brendan Hamner(shoulder), Aaron Beally(ill), and Emil Arvidsson(returned home).
Icing only 4 defensemen took its toll in this one, as did early penalty trouble against the Rattlers, who took a 3-1 first period lead. Battling back in the second, the Moose generated numerous chances, and brought the game back to a 1 goal deficit on a power play of their own.
It was a 3-2 game midway through the second period when the Rattlers scored 2 quick goals - a quick wrist shot to the far corner from his off wing by Rattlers\' Chris Tumba, followed by an unfortunate bounce when a pass out from the corner hit our goaltender\'s own stick and deflected in behind him for a 5-2 Bradford lead. After a solid opening 10 minutes, the Moose seemed to let down after that, and the Rattlers took advantage with another goal for the 6-2 lead after 2 periods, and it was game over after that.
Our guys had nothing left in the third, but really tried to the end.
I\'m really proud of our players intensity this series, resulting in 2 wins, almost a 3rd, and taking the Rattlers to the brink for the first time in 3 seasons.
We\'re looking forward to next season, when many of our players will likely return, including many of our veterans, and we expect to challenge for a title.
Congratulations to the Bradford Rattlers, and wish them the best of luck the rest of the way. I still think they are the team to beat, and will be a handful for anyone to finally knock them off.