For years the last name Benning conjured up mostly bad memories for Vancouver Canucks fans 鈥� well Abbotsford Canucks fans got to experience some of that trauma on Sunday (June 15) afternoon.
Charlotte Checkers defenceman Michael Benning wired a shot past Abbotsford's Arturs Silovs at 4:02 of overtime to win the game 3-2 and the Calder Cup Finals series is now knotted at 1-1.
Benning, the nephew of former Vancouver Canucks general manager Jim Benning, has scored five goals in the playoffs and is tied for the most among all defenceman.
His power play goal put an end to a game that saw the Canucks struggle to record shots, as they were out shot 42-13 in the game. Abbotsford managed just two shots in the second period and four in the third.
The first period felt like two completely different teams, as the offence was flowing and the pace was fast. Charlotte forward John Leonard opened the scoring at 3:13, but Abbotsford's Sammy Blais replied just 62 seconds later. The Blais goal was a bit of a head-scratcher as the refs did not make a goal signal call and huddled after it appeared Abbotsford had scored.
It was deemed to be a goal and Blais was also called for goaltender interference on the same play, which makes about as much sense as a monocle on an elephant 鈥� but the game was tied.
The Checkers grabbed the lead back when Wilmer Skoog scored a power play goal at 11:14, but Abbotsford clawed back when Linus Karlsson capped off an excellent power play by beating Kaapo Kahkonen at 17:38. Blais and Bains drew the helpers on the tying goal.
That was it for offence in regulation and the second period devolved into a mess of physical play and activity after the whistle. Blais had to leave the game briefly after he was hit hard by Justin Sourdif and Charlotte's Tobias Bjornfot also went to the room after being crushed by Nathan Smith and Chase Wouters. Blais returned, but Bjornfot did not and the Checkers were forced to play with five defenceman for the remainder of the game. Canucks forward Danila Klimovich also suffered an injury and left, but then returned.
The Canucks turned up the pressure in the third, but could not solve Kahkonen or his posts. Abbotsford defenceman Christian Wolanin hit a pair of posts in the third, but the Canucks were again out shot 10-4 in the third.
Overtime saw Abbotsford receive an early power play, but they were unable to generate a shot. The Checkers then received a power play of their own and Benning capitalized on the Canucks' inability to clear the puck to win the game for his team.
Only two Abbotsford players (Bains and Wolanin) recorded more than one shot on goal. Checkers players Rasmus Asplund, Benning and Leonard all had five shots. Kahkonen made just 11 saves to record the win. Reported attendance at the Bojangles Coliseum was a new record high of 8,689.
Abbotsford Canucks head coach was not pleased with his team's play.
"Obviously we're not happy with the result," he said. "We had opportunities to get the job done, especially getting that power play in overtime and we didn't do it. The way we lost tonight doesn't sit well, we didn't start the game on time once again. We have to find a way to be more assertive early in games to make sure we're not playing on our heels.
Malhotra also said his team played too undisciplined and took too many penalties to succeed.
Checkers head coach Geordie Kinnear said his team was much better than game one on Friday (June 13).
"I thought we played a full 60 minutes and special teams stepped up in overtime," he said. "Couldn't be more proud of the group, but we have a lot more work that needs to be done."
He said he was ok with the goal/goalie interference call, as it was explained to him that the interference occurred after the goal. He added that he didn't like the hit on Bjornfot that took him out of the game. He hinted that the team may have to make lineup adjustments as a result of likely losing him.
The loss guarantees that the Abbotsford Centre will host three games in the Calder Cup Finals. Game three is set for Tuesday (June 17), game four goes Thursday (June 19) and game five is on Saturday (June 21). The Tuesday and Thursday games begin at 7 p.m., while Saturday is set for 6 p.m.
Continue visiting for ongoing coverage of the Calder Cup Finals.
