SIMSBURY, Conn. -- They talk about these games like they are mythical.
They talk about matchups such as the one between Kimball Union and Salisbury like they unique, like they're worth making a big deal about. You know, three-time champions up against the team they beat in the last two New England prep school Elite 8 finals should be a thriller, that kind of thing.
Well, they were right. What a game.
After falling behind 3-0 three minutes into the second period, Salisbury churned up a comeback for the ages to beat nemesis Kimball Union 7-4 in Stuart/Corkery Elite 8 quarterfinals action on Wednesday and advance to face Avon Old Farms in semifinals action Saturday.
Here's what we saw during the neutral-site game played at Jackson Rink, on the grounds of Westminster School:
Why Salisbury won
Admittedly, it wasn't looking good for Crimson Knights fans after the first period, which ended 2-0 for Kimball Union. The Wildcats were dominating, pushing Salisbury with heavy forechecking and even heavier backchecking.
Nothing seemed to be working for the No. 3 seed, and when the No. 6-seeded Wildcats went up 3-0 at 15:05 of the second period, on the power play, there was a feeling that KUA had the upper hand in the rivalry.
After all, these teams had an intense recent history: KUA had beaten Salisbury in the finals of the last two Elite 8s; Salisbury had exacted a form of revenge in December while beating KUA at the Flood Marr, which it eventually went on to win.
But then Jake Quillan took over. The star Knights center from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, grabbed his team and dragged it into respectability, scoring two straight goals to spur on his team's comeback, his second coming from a tight angle against KUA's Veeti Kohvakka. After Quillan's second goal, Oliver Frontini scored 1:03 later from a sharp angle on the other side of the net and, just like that, the game was tied.
Less than three minutes later, KUA captain Teddy Griffin (Duxbury, Mass.) scored on the power play to give his team a 4-3 lead, but it somehow didn't dampen the momentum Salisbury had stolen, and four unanswered goals by the Crimson Knights followed, including two by offensive machine Lucas Mercuri.
Bottom line, Salisbury's win came as a result of slowing down, calming and returning to playing their style and not getting caught up in the hype or rattled by the KUA forecheckers. And this helped their offense wake up at the right time.
Best player on the ice
First, a tip of the helmet must go to offensive dynamos and linemates Sullivan Mack and Tomas Mazura, who looked unstoppable for Kimball Union, especially on the first three goals.
Mack opened the scoring using pure speed to race down the wing and swing around behind the net before beating Salisbury goalie Max Donoso a mere 31 seconds in, on the first scoring chance of the game by either team. You could feel the collective gulp from Salisbury fans.
Then, less than 10 minutes later, Mack took a great pass from Mazura and beat Donoso high to the glove side to make it 2-0. Mazura made it 3-0 three minutes into the second by cleaning up a rebound past new Salisbury goalie Nick Haas, and it looked all but over.
Star KUA defenseman Luca Fantilli assisted on all three goals. Mack also added an assist on Griffin's second-period goal.
Worth mentioning is the best player who wasn't on the ice (or the bench, either), which was a contributing factor as to why KUA couldn't hold the lead: Adam Fantilli, the talented 6-2 forward who is expected to be the top pick in the Ontario Hockey League draft this summer but missed eight games with a series of nagging injuries. In 26 games, Fantilli had 18 goals and 18 assists for 36 points, a 1.38 points-per-game average.
It's safe to say with Fantilli, Mack and Mazura, KUA would have given Salisbury a better run for its money.
As for the top overall player, the nod here goes to Quillan, whose efforts, speed and accuracy helped swing the momentum for Salisbury. He capped his hat-trick effort with an empty-netter with 1:12 left in regulation. Dean Bauchiero (Southington, Conn.) had the other Salisbury goal.
Mercuri also earns major props for not only his clutch offense -- he scored the tying goal by cleaning up the rebound garbage in the crease with 3:03 left in the second period, then scored the winner with a scant 13 seconds left in the period with a snipe of a wrister that beat Haas low -- but also for his physical play, drive to the net and work on faceoffs.
You could reasonably argue that Quillan and Mercuri should at least share top-player honors. But the case here is that Quillan's goals came with his team down 3-0 and looking at an embarrassing loss, should that momentum continue. He stepped in and changed the course of the game.
Key play
Oddly, a turning point might very well have been a no-goal call off a quick whistle at 13:09 of the second period. With the score 3-0 for KUA and Salisbury buzzing, Mercuri shoveled in a wraparound rebound, but not before the referee lost sight of the puck and blew down the play. It was almost as if an imaginary bubble around the KUA net had burst, and Salisbury went on from there to score seven goals, the first coming six minutes later.
Battle of the game
The best battle of the night didn't happen too often, but when it did, it was worth paying attention to: Namely, whenever towering centers Mazura and Mercuri went head-to-head on faceoffs.
Mazura, who had a whopping 12 goals and 58 assists for 70 points in 34 games, measures in at 6-foot-3, 190 pounds.
Mercuri, no slouch in the offense department with 16 goals and 17 assists for 33 points in 25 games, measures in at 6-foot-3, 200 pounds.
Mercuri seemed to win more than he lost on the draws, but Mazura didn't go down without a fight. Makes you wonder how many battles these guys would have waged over a longer series.
Analysis
The key to Kimball Union's early success in the game was an all-in commitment to blocking shots. Just to take one slice of the game as an example, after the Tim Whitehead-coached Wildcats went up 3-0, and before Salisbury's first goal of the game, they got key blocks from Grant Eastwood and Donte Pierre, plus a key block of a pass by Nick Bernardo that stopped a sure-fire breakaway.
This shot-blocking was executed by defensemen and backchecking forwards, who were ultra-aggressive and used the turnovers to their advantage with quick breakouts and stretch passes.
But once those random sticks and legs stopped getting in the way, the Andrew Will-coached Knights started connecting and found their range and comfort zone for making passes click to break out of their own zone.
Paul Grant is an editor and a writer for HockeyJournal.com and Seamans Media. He previously oversaw hockey content at ESPN.com and Sporting News. You can connect with him at pgrant@hockeyjournal.com.
