Bring out the brooms
Flames earn sweep after shutout
SKATE — Junior forward Grant Garvin raced past a Davenport defender down the ice.
Photo Credit: Caroline sellers
The ECHL playoffs might not be for another three weeks, but the energy at the LaHaye Ice Center Saturday Feb. 4 resembled a playoff-type atmosphere as the Flames ACHA Division I men’s hockey team (22-12) completed the weekend sweep of Davenport (24-6-1) with a final score of 5-0.
In the process, Liberty secured the 2017 Blue and Grey Cup — a trophy that has gone to the winner of the season series between the two schools since 2012.
Flames Head Coach Kirk Handy was proud to take home the cup, but he has even higher expectations for his hockey team.
“The trophy is great to have, but we aren’t satisfied yet,” Handy said after the victory.
“We think we can take our game to even another level and keep pushing it forward.”
On a night that junior forward Grant Garvin notched his 100th career point, it was sophomore forward Owen Harris who got the scoring started at the 13:12 mark of the first period.
After receiving a pass from freshman forward Jamie Crane, Harris backhanded the puck beneath the pads of Davenport goalie Jason Rhynold.
The early goal masked Liberty’s slow start after Friday night’s physical affair.
For much of the first period, Davenport controlled the puck in the offensive zone and fired away on Liberty senior goalie Matt Pinel.
“I thought we kind of came out a little flat in the first period, but as the first period went on, we started to get our legs under us,” Handy said.
Regardless of the slow start, initiating the scoring served as a tone-setter for the rest of the night.
“You always want to score first, especially us knowing they were a little short-handed,” Handy said.
“It was important for us to do that. It was a great play by Owen. Owen’s a talented player, and that was a big goal for us tonight.”
Besides the Harris goal and a few other near-misses for both teams, the first period lacked much excitement.
However, that changed in the second when Liberty took control both on the boards and in the scoring column.
In a sequence of about 10 seconds, both freshman forward Josh Hamilton and sophomore forward Kyle Crane cleanly laid out Panther defenders.
PUCK — Zane Schartz looked to pass to a teammate.
Photo Credit: Caroline Sellers
After a tripping call on Davenport forward Kody Polin with 7:17 to go in the period, Liberty capitalized toward the end of the power play when Garvin went upstairs on a rebound in front of the net following a shot from the point by team captain Ben Hughes at the 5:33 mark, securing his 100th career point and a 2-0 Flames lead.
When asked about achieving the milestone, Garvin was complimentary of his teammates.
“Just a lot of hard work, but obviously I’m the benefactor of my teammates in the past and present, and all of their hard work,” Garvin said.
“Tonight, I was lucky. I got the rebound — it was just there — but I owe it all to my teammates.”
Garvin added his second goal of the night in the third period in similar fashion after successfully deflecting in a shot from the point by sophomore defenseman Zane Schartz with 6:46 left to go in the game to increase the lead to 3-0.
The second goal for Garvin also came via a power play, although this time it was a two-man advantage.
“It was a special night,” Garvin said.
“These past two games feel like the best hockey that we’ve played all year. As a team, we kind of put all three periods together and played for 60 minutes.”
The Flames highlight of the night came on a beautiful one-timer off the stick of senior forward Colt Steele with 2:19 left in the second period.
It was set up by an entry pass from the top of the right circle by freshman defenseman Jacob Fricks.
On the play, Steele was set up on the goal line to the left of the cage with a minimal angle, but was still able to find a hole upstairs.
“(Jacob Fricks) made a nice pass, and I just got all of the lumber on it and it ended up going in,” Steele said.
“I was a little confused if it went in or not, and then I turned around and saw the ref point, so I was happy about that.”
The Flames capped their scoring with yet another power play goal after consecutive game misconducts by Davenport forwards Sam Basich and Joey Ogden, the latter of which had to be restrained by officials while making his way off the ice.
It came via a backhand from the slot by freshman forward Zak Hayes off of a sliding feed from sophomore forward Zechariah Roberts.
The unsung hero of the night, though, was Pinel.
The Flames goaltender made 27 stops, most of which came from directly in front of the net.
To everyone watching from the stands, Pinel’s performance was phenomenal, but he downplayed it after the game, choosing to, instead, credit the level of play from his teammates.
“They were giving me their best so I felt like I had to give my best,” Pinel said after the shutout.
His play was not lost on Handy, either.
“He works hard every day,” Handy said.
“He prepares well, and he’s been a constant for us this year, pushing the guys forward. I’m thrilled for Matt. It’s his senior year and it’s great to see. He’s playing his best right now.”
The Flames take on Rutgers in the first of a two-game series beginning Friday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m.