Winning a playoff series isn’t easy, no matter how many championships a team has on its resume.
The Florida Everblades certainly didn’t expect their quest for a fourth consecutive Kelly Cup Championship would be a piece of cake. The Eastern conference Finals have been anything but smooth for the three-time defending champs.
The Trois-Rivieres Lions snatched Florida’s home-ice advantage away with two wins in less than 24 hours to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. The next three games (if necessary) will be in Canada, giving the Lions a chance to crush the Everblades’ dreams of making history for the second straight season.
This is the first time the Everblades have trailed a series 2-0 after the first two matchups over the last four seasons. However, being in a playoff hole isn’t unfamiliar territory.
In the first round of the 2024 Kelly Cup Playoffs, the Jacksonville Icemen jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the series, only to see Florida storm back to win it in seven games.
Home-ice advantage is always nice to have, but is by no means a guarantee for success. The Everblades are 4-1 on the road this post-season, so they will not be intimidated by winning in someone else’s building.
The first two games of this year’s Conference finals have been tight, defensive struggles. The Lions edged Florida in a 1-0 shutout on Saturday, then hung on for a 2-1 triumph in Game 2 Sunday afternoon. Trois-Rivieres goaltender Luke Cavallin has had the slight edge over the Everblades’ Cam Johnson, making 63 saves combined in the two games.
In both instances, Florida outshot the Lions in convincing fashion: 32-12 in Game 1 and 32-14 in Game 2.
The Lions are in their first-ever Conference Finals. They’ve managed to score first in 11 of their 12 playoff games, including the first two in this series. If they intend to hold off a seasoned championship team, they must continue to score early and put more pressure on Johnson than they have in the first two games.
Mavericks In Similar Hole
In the Western conference Finals, the Kansas City Mavericks find themselves in a similar position as Florida: down 2-0 in their series against the Toledo Walleye.
Like Florida, the Mavericks let home-ice advantage slip through their fingers, losing both contests played at Cable Dahmer Arena. They failed to light the lamp in Game 1, falling 2-0. Game 2was more back-and-forth, with Colby Ambrosio putting in a one-timer at the 6:12 mark of the third period for a 4-3 win.
Kansas City got the best of the Walleye in the 2024 Conference Finals, winning the series in six games. Doing so in similar fashion would require winning the next four games, the first three of which will be played at the Huntington Center in Toledo.
If the Mavericks hope to get back to the Kelly Cup Final, where they fell to the Everblades last season, they can’t afford to look too far ahead. KC was one of three ECHL teams to win at least 23 road games during the regular season, and they will need that past history to be on their side to get back in the series.
The Walleye have won five consecutive games heading into Game 3, with defenseman Matt Anderson riding a four-game point streak (2-2-4), including the game-winner in Thursday’s 2-0 shutout win.
The Kelly Cup Final could feature a rematch of last year’s Everblades-Mavericks series, or it could go in an entirely different direction if one or both teams fail to dig themselves out of their current 2-0 hole. Either way, it will be playoff hockey at its finest.