For such a beautifully frenetic sport, the language of hockey is pretty boring. It's all pucks in deep and one shift at a time, and about twenty-five other phrases that make up the hockey cliché bingo card, which can get filled up with just a handful of post-game press conference answers.
But there's a reason these stereotypical words have such a long shelf life – they're true. Take, for instance, the recipe for a road playoff win in a do-or-die game: We need some contributions from up and down the lineup. Our goalie can help steal this one. We have to play responsibly and take advantage of our opportunities. These clichés have been peddled by every coach from Toe Blake to Jon Cooper. But as the Waterloo Warriors men's hockey team proved on Thursday night, these aren't just empty words – they're a formula for victory.
Waterloo netminder Dan Murphy (Waterford, ON/) made 42 saves, and the sixth-seeded visitors got a pair of goals from unlikely sources, as the Warriors claimed a 4-1 victory over the third-seed Toronto Varsity Blues in the first round of the OUA single elimination playoffs.
Nolan Lee (Vancouver, BC/) and Gavin Wood (Waterloo, ON/) found a fine time for some milestone markers, as each scored their first career OUA goals in the win. Chase Campbell (Waterloo, ON/) scored the eventual game-winner, while Jacob Cascagnette (Kitchener, ON/) added an empty-net goal for a Waterloo team that advances to the second round for the first time since their miraculous run to the OUA West division title in 2013.
Wood and Campbell each added an assist for two-point nights, while Alex Gritz (Cranberry Township, PA/) contributed with a pair of helpers. Cole Purboo scored Toronto's only goal, and Alex Bishop made 12 saves in defeat.
Although Waterloo ended the night with the proverbial road playoff win, Toronto earned a couple of clichés early – they scored the all-important first goal and were happy to play with the lead when Purboo broke in and beat Murphy high to the glove side to give the Blues a 1-0 advantage just six minutes in.
But as the first period became the second, Murphy started to assert himself as a major factor. The Waterloo netminder stood on his head and kept his team close with save after save, as the game approached and then passed the midway point. The freshman goaltender was giving the Warriors one ingredient of their playoff road win recipe, and Lee was about to add the second.
With just over seven minutes to play, Adamo Santia (Richmond Hill, ON/) slid a tidy bounce pass off the side boards for Wood, who found a streaking Lee through the middle of the ice. The rookie made a beautiful move to the backhand to beat Bishop, and the Warriors had their equalizer. They also had a big goal from the fourth line, and another box checked in the road playoff manifesto.
Just 76 seconds later, Campbell turned the tides for good when he curled off the side boards, took the Gritz feed, and zipped a wrister past the blocking hand of Bishop. The goal gave Waterloo a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes, despite being outshot 28-12 through two periods. The visitors had capitalized on their chances, putting them just twenty minutes away from advancing.
If there was any doubts in the clichéd formula, Wood erased it just 1:30 into the third. The play started when Dan Walker (Sudbury, ON/) forced a turnover at center ice, and Tate Popple (Brandon, MB/) picked up the loose puck and hit Wood in stride on the left wing. Wood put his leading leg forward to protect the puck, barreled in towards the net front, and shoveled home a backhander to make it 3-1. It was a goal-scorer's goal from an unlikely hero, and a first career OUA marker that Wood will not soon forget.
From there, the visitors battened down the hatches and kept everything to the outside (bingo!) in what was a clinical display of playing with a lead on the road. With 1:40 left, Cascagnette put the game away when he slid home an empty-net goal to make it 4-1.
The Warriors will now move on to face the second-seed Ryerson Rams in round two, as they'll look to spin up another version of the plucky playoff road win on Saturday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre. They didn't enter the postseason as the favourites, but there's a lot of belief in the room that the Warriors might just be getting hot at the right time.
Maybe those clichés will end up ringing true, too.
