April 10, 2011
Blazers wrap up playoff berth
Dawson leads way in win over Philadelphia
by Phillip Shore/
Dan Dawson and the Boston Blazers clinched a playoff berth Saturday night. (photo: Mark Brodie)
The Boston Blazers players, coaches, ownership and fans can breathe a collective sigh of relief. After a five-game losing streak jeopardized the franchise’s playoff hopes, they most-hyped team coming into the season finally clinched a spot in the postseason, beating the Philadelphia Wings at TD Garden on Saturday night, 9-7.
“It’s been a tough time for the last six weeks with this group and it hasn’t been overly fun,” Blazers head coach Matt Sawyer said. “It’s good to see them perform when their backs are against the wall.”
It was a do-or-die atmosphere for both teams, with the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference up for grabs. Boston came out with energy, intensity and a purpose and went up 4-2 after the first quarter.
The Blazers enjoyed a strong second quarter defensively. The team shut out the Wings and killed two penalties, including one that started in the first quarter and put the Blazers two men down.
“I might be the keeper but my defense in front of me are doing a great job,” said Boston goalie Anthony Cosmo, who made 28 saves on the night. “Part of the game plan was to keep them outside for outside shots. To keep them off the board is a testament to my defense.”
Boston also took advantage of two of its own power plays thanks to the Casey Powell and Kevin Buchanan connection. The two set up at the restraining line, with Powell top right and Buchanan top left. At 10:26 Buchanan and Powell passed back and forth several times before Buchanan finally fired and scored.
About 5½ minutes later the two were at it again, exchanging passes up top with Powell being the shooter and scorer this time.
“Dan (Dawson) started scoring a couple goals early so they locked on him and they left on the power play one guy covering Kevin and I,” Powell said. “We just moved the ball back and forth to wear the defender and the goalie out. That was kind of our strategy and it seemed to work out in the second quarter.”
Dawson had a huge impact on the game. The captain recorded five goals and two assists on the night. He opened the scoring for Boston in the third quarter and the fourth quarter, as well as putting the game away with a goal with 2:25remaining to give the Blazers a nice cushion.
His goal in the third quarter was highlight-reel worthy. With two seconds remaining on the shot clock, Dawsonreceived a pass behind the goal from Nick Cotter (goal, two assists). The forward dove from behind the net, reached out in front of it with his stick and dumped the ball in the back of the net before the shot clock could expire. The score put the Blazers ahead by five, their largest lead of the game.
“Kevin Buchanan just had such an outside threat that we knew that Brandon Miller was going to come out to the top of his crease in order to cut down that angle,” Dawson said. “Bucky really sold the shot which allowed me to have some room to dive in behind. Sometimes we didn’t draw it up, we just ad-libbed, and at this point you need to make plays in order to win games.”
That goal would be the last highlight for Boston for a good chunk of the second half. With just over four minutes remaining in the third Philadelphia began its comeback. Ryan Boyle scored once and Drew Westervelt added two goals, including one with 0.8 seconds remaining in the quarter brought the Wings back within two with one quarter left to play.
“I think we played a half a quarter’s worth of man down in the first half, so the second half we had to do a lot of work to get out of the hole,” Westervelt (three goals, assist) said. “(In the third quarter) I think we were playing five-on-five and started to move the ball a little bit and get in sync …we were getting some better looks in the third quarter more so than in the first half.”
After Dawson scored in the first minute of the final quarter the Wings continued to claw back, with goals from Westervelt and Boyle to make it a single-goal game with 8:48left to play.
“It’s not an exciting place to be. We’ve been in the lead with a few minutes left and lost it the past five times,” Powell said. “When they got to one it was a little bit scary and I started thinking about what’s been going on, but our attitude coming into the game was a lot better tonight and I think that’s what got us through the game.”
Unlike previous outings though, the Blazers outlasted the Wings. The defense stayed focused and Cosmo made a number of good saves, including multiple stops on fast breaks. Then on one save with about 2½ minutes remaining, Cosmo tossed the ball down the field to Dawson, who broke out in transition and got behind the defender and scored to ice the game.
“We need to learn how to win tight games, and we won one there,” Sawyer said. “We have five losses this year by a goal so that was encouraging there.”
The Blazers will have one final tune-up before the playoffs start when they travel to Buffalo next Saturday.
