UNH- UMass- Playoff game 3- The Butler did it!!!

Well thanks to mother nature and her sick sense of humor I couldn’t make the trip down to Boston for the Hockey East semi-finals. Did start the trip down, but once I hit Hampton the roads were awful and saw a truck and a few cars off the road, so decided to turn around. But did get the see one hell of a game on TV. The Cats pulled out a 2 OT win 3-2. What a game! Brett Hemmingway was out of the game due to a stomach bug, this would actually work out for the Cats. Danny Rossman was inserted into the line up onto the 4th lie, with Bobby Butler moved to the 3rd line with Josh Ciocco put on the first line. As the norm Kevin Regan stood on his head, another 40+ save night, just another day at the office for Mr. Regan! The 3rd and 4th line came up HUGE last night. The third line had 2 goals (Collins, and Butler) and the 4th line had the other goal (Rossman) The Cats did come out flying in the first period, they were peppering Quick with shots. Collins was the first to break through with a hard fought goal, a great crashing the net goal. Have to say the second line skated hard in the first period and got some good chances , but Quick came up with some great saves for the Minutemen. The Minutemen tied the game up with a fluke goal that went off Flashians skate and past Regan. The Minutemen took the 2-1 lead early in the second on a defensive break down that lead to a Minutemen open in front of the net. Then stepped up Danny Rossman scoring his first collegiate goal late in the second. Until that point the Minutemen carried the play in the 2nd. After that goal the momentum switched to the Cats. The third period went back and forth with both goalies coming up huge. The first OT started with the Minutemen carried the play. Then the swings started to go back and forth, with Quick and Regan making some highlight reel saves, seemed all came with in a 90 second span. Then the Butler stepped up early in period #5 to put the Cats into the Hockey East finals. On a beautiful poke check by Collins to get the puck to Butler, he put a soft shot past Quick. Looks like the lack of speed might of confused Quick. Have to say was really impressed in the way the 3rd and 4th line played all night. Have to give the Minutemen a ton of credit, they played a great game and really used their trap to slow down the Cats for some long stretched of time. Of course made some spectacular saves for UMass. For the Cats being down one of their top scores I think they played well, in a match up that might not be in their favor. Hopefully they will be healthier in the Hockey East finals. I have heard that quite a few guys are under the weather.
So the Cats move on to play BC, who beat BU 5-2 in the other semi-finals. BC pretty much handled BU. BC is one of the hottest teams in the country right now, including 2 victories over UNH a few weeks ago. For the Cats to win the championship they will have to be on their A game all night, and have all 4 lines and all the D to step up, and of course have Regan play Regan hockey. At this point it is an uphill battle for the Cats. But not one they cant win. They have capability to beat BC. No matter what happens we know we will see the Cats in Manchester next weekend. Though a win tonight will give them a #1 seed there. So here is hoping for another good effort by the Cats and another W
GO CAT!!!!