Wild-Card Game

Nobody would want to face the scorchingly hot Comets in a single winner-take-all playoff game, but the Millionaires were especially concerned. The last time these teams met, the Comets spanked them 4-0. Percy LeSueur notched the only shutout of any goaltender this season, but a lot of the credit should go to the Comets' skating players -- to wit, the Millies managed just two shots on goal during the first period of that game, the lowest shot total for any single period in league history. 

Well, the Millionaires managed to rack up rather more shots in tonight's wild-card game. Midway through the first, Harry "Rat" Westwick buried a pass from Frank Rankin to give the hometown Millies a 1-0 lead. Rankin's clutch play was a bit of a surprise given his miserable season (2 G, 5 A, -10), but in his earlier years with the Victorias, he's always been able to take his game to another level in the playoffs -- and entered the game tied for second in league history in postseason points. At the horn, however, Ranking got into a tussle with the Comets' Blair Russell and was assessed a penalty. The Millies headed to the dressing room knowing they'd start the second period up against the league's top power play (26.67%), but they trusted in the skill of their league-leading penalty kill (83.64%).

The Millies killed Rankin's penalty to open the second, and then killed a Jimmy Gardner penalty shortly thereafter. The second frame remained uneventful until the closing minutes, when Percy LeSueur stonewalled Art Farrell and Rankin in rapid succession, keeping the Comets within striking distance. With mere seconds left on the clock, sparkplug winger Billy Gilmour snapped a shot that Hugh Lehman turned aside, but a juicy rebound landed on the stick of former Playoff MVP Mike Grant, who buried the puck to tie the game at one goal apiece.

Giving up a last-second goal was bad enough, but worse news came from the Millies' dressing room: top pivot Westwick was injured and would not return. The Millies had lost more man-games to injury than any other team this season, and the trend now continued into the playoffs. Westwick had finished tenth in the league in total points, and without their best playmaker the home team would need to rely on rookie center Duke Keats to step up.

The somber mood in the Millies' stadium soon turned to elation, however, when Jimmy Gardner set up star winger Barney Stanley for a goal early in the third to give the hosts a 2-1 edge. It was Stanley's first-ever playoff goal, and it came in his first-ever playoff contest. His tally remained the difference for much of the third as the desperate Comets -- their season on the line -- threw everything they had at Lehman.

With less than a minute left in regulation, the Millies had pinned the Comets deep in their own zone. Keats won a crucial faceoff and kicked the puck back to Farrell, who blasted a slapper that LeSueur somehow managed to swat away. The Comets recovered the biscuit and worked it up to Grant, who fired one last shot as time expired.

It went in.

I could scarcely believe the dice roll, but defenseman Mike Grant had not only scored a buzzer-beater at the end of the second period, he had just scored a buzzer-beater at the end of the third as well! (As an aside, Grant has been ridiculous in the postseason -- the guy basically turns into Cyclone Taylor when the playoffs start!) The game was now tied at two and headed for sudden-death overtime. It was yet another dagger in the hearts of the Millies and their dumbfounded fans. Two last-second heartbreaker goals, plus the crippling loss of Rat Westwick? This team was on the ropes.

With grim determination, the Millies set to work in the overtime frame. Five minutes in, Stanley found an open Keats in the slot. The rookie rifled the puck past LeSueur, sending the Millionaires and their fans into a frenzied celebration. With a victory in the wild-card game, they had punched their ticket to the Creighton Cup series to face the top-seeded Thistles!