January 30, 2010
Blazers win second straight game
The Blazers rode a four-goal performance by Dan Dawson to pick up their second consecutive victory, dropping the Philadelphia Wings, 11-9, Saturday night at TD Garden.
Dawson added two assists and Anthony Cosmo stopped 38 shots as the Blazers improved to 2-3.
“That’s why [Dawson] is our captain – when we needed goals, he stepped up,” said Gary Bining.
In the second quarter, Dawson scored two highlight-reel goals in a 22-second span. On the first, he spun away from one defender then fired home a low shot as a second rode him to the turf with 8:33 left in the quarter.
“I wish I could say I knew where I was shooting that ball,” Dawson joked after the game. “But really, sometimes you just close your eyes and hope it goes in. That was one of those moments.”
Boston never trailed, scoring twice in the first three minutes to set the tone. Less than a minute in, Dawson scored a bizarre goal that rolled off a defender and off the back of goaltender Brandon Miller before squeaking into the net.
Less than two minutes later, Ryan Hotaling picked up the ball after stopping Philly’s attack with a monstrous hit, then ran in and smoked it past Miller to put the Blazers ahead, 2-0. Hotaling assisted in the quarter’s third goal, a roofed shot by Daryl Veltman. Philly then scored a goal late in the quarter to cut the lead to 3-1.
In the second quarter, the theme was quick response for the Blazers, as the Wings kept threatening to close the gap only to see Boston continue to keep some distance.
Mat Giles scored a power-play goal for Philly 1:41 into the second quarter and a slashing penalty on Bining gave the Wings a chance to equalize on the power play. But the Blazers had a strong kill and as the penalty expired, Dan Dawson found Bining coming out of the box and fed him a perfect pass. Bining converted, scorching a shot past Miller.
“If you do have the ball [as a penalty expires], it’s often a strategy to find the guy out of the box,” said Bining. “I ran toward the net and I knew I was open. With Dan [Dawson] feeding it, you know it’s going to be right on your stick.”
After Dawson’s two-goal explosion, the Blazers led, 6-2. Philly cut the gap to 6-4 with 3:33 remaining in the half when Drew Westervelt’s slow shot squeaked past Cosmo, but Boston responded 45 seconds later with a goal by Brendan Thenhaus.
The Blazers extended their lead to 10-7 after three, with Veltman adding two goals in the quarter. They then battled through a defensive fourth quarter to prevail.
Philadelphia cut its deficit to 10-8 early on, but the Blazers sealed the win with another stellar goal by Veltman, set up by a great play by Matt Abbott.
Abbott was given the ball and told to “run around for 20 seconds” to kill time, according to coach Tom Ryan. He attracted the attention of the Wings to the point where Veltman was left wide open in the offensive zone. Abbott zipped him the ball, and Veltman stuffed home his fourth goal of the game to put the exclamation point on the victory.
“[Abbott] is the fastest guy in the league,” said Dawson. “He makes things happen.”
“I think as a collective unit, we were dominant,” said Cosmo.
The Blazers controlled the game most of the way, allowing Philadelphia back into it with some penalties and mistakes.
“I thought in our last game against Orlando [a 13-9 win last weekend] we were disciplined, and today we got away from it,” said head coach Tom Ryan. “We got a few unnecessary penalties, which didn’t help us out.”
But overall, Ryan was happy with his team’s performance, saying that they continue to show “steady improvement” since their 0-3 start.
“First and foremost, we ask for effort out of the guys, and I think we got that,’’ he said.
The game was very physical with the teams combining for 57 penalty minutes, including three major penalties. Dawson felt that was par for the course in a game between chippy rivals.
“When you play against a team that many times, you create ... a dislike for the other team,” Dawson said.
The Blazers host the Rochester Knighthawks next Saturday night at the Garden in another important Eastern Conference battle.
