Outlaws defeat Privateers

ALEXANDRIA BAY — In overtime the puck slid just off Jeff Winchester’s stick as he stared at an open half of the net.

It prevented the Thousand Islands defenseman from lifting the shot over New Jersey goalie Dan McWhinney’s right blocker.

Less than 30 seconds later, Travis Kauffeldt netted the game-winner and the Outlaws defeated the Privateers, 4-3, at the Bonnie Castle Arena. Kaufeldt’s score came only 53 seconds into overtime.

“They came out firing and they missed the back door,” McWhinney said. “I’ve got elasticy legs, the boys say. They stick out and come out of nowhere.”

The win extended New Jersey’s (31-5-0 overall) lead to 10 points over Thousand Islands (27-7-2) in the Federal Hockey League.

“We got the first one out of the way,” McWhinney said. “We didn’t want to give them any points, but one is better than three. We want to be in that first-place spot all year.”

Both Thousand Islands and New Jersey have distanced themselves from the rest of the FHL and have little work left to lock up the top seeds in the upcoming playoffs. That separation gave Friday’s contest a playoff feel and the a 978 fans who packed the arena a preview of the potential finals matchup.

“In my opinion,” said New Jersey head coach Chris Firriolo, “if everybody’s healthy, we should see them in the finals and it’s going to be a hell of a hockey series.”

Thousand Islands has dropped both its meetings with New Jersey this season. The first was a 5-1 loss on Dec. 31. The Privateers and Outlaws finish their two-game series at 7 p.m. tonight.

“Tonight showed why we’re the best two teams in the league,” Privateers coach Marc LeFebvre said. “The guys played well tonight and we’ll find a way to win – a bounce here, a bounce there.”

Thousand Islands never led, but twice tied it. New Jersey’s Brett Liscomb started the scoring off a feed from Trevor Karasiewicz in the slot at 4:53 of the first.

Matt Miller scored on a power play three minutes later to push it to 2-0. But Thousand Islands responded with a goal from Brad Smulders at 9:06 of the first. New Jersey held a 2-1 lead after outshooting the Privateers, 13-9, in the first period.

It could have been a much larger deficit if not for Thousand Islands goalie Matt Anthony, who finished with 38 saves in the loss.

“We needed him to be good,” LeFebvre said. “We need him to be our best player. Tonight was the best effort I’ve seen him give us in a few weeks.”

New Jersey continued to put quick shots on Anthony in the second period. He stopped all 21 shots he faced in the frame, while Ryan Pearson managed a tying goal inside the final two minutes to make it 2-2.

“I didn’t think (the Privateers) showed us what they had the first time we played them,” McWhinney said. “This time, they came out slow and all of a sudden they came on. And when they came on, they were good.”

An evenly-played third period saw Matt Miller score for the Outlaws and Paul Kelly answer for the Privateers to send the game to overtime.

McWhinney finished with 28 saves, including the one on Winchester in overtime. Thousand Islands fell to 3-2 in overtimes this season, while New Jersey continued its overtime unbeated streak to three games.

“Against a team like that, we gave an honest effort,” LeFebvre said. “One bounce the other way and we win that game.”