1st Period
- Roman Kraemer put the Thunderbirds on the board first with a power play goal at 6:03.
- Denis Zaichyk responded for the IceCats with a goal at 15:34, tying things up 1-1.
2nd Period
- The start of the second period was delayed for quite a bit due to an issue with the ice. Thankfully, the Florence Center crew was able to address the problem and get the players back out — but not until after the old Zamboni was brought out to resurface the rink!
- Charlie Bedard found pay dirt at 4:30 to give the IceCats another score and the lead. 2-1 IceCats.
- Despite being on a power play, Pee Dee would surrender a short handed goal to Jacob Schnapp at 9:33. Two all.
- This is the moment that turned the tide of the game. With twenty-nine seconds left in the period, Timur Rasulov scored his FIRST goal of the season. After a lengthy review, the officials chose to award Pee Dee’s veteran defenseman his hard-fought but well earned score. Congratulations to Timur!
3rd Period
- Despite holding a one point lead, Pee Dee continued facing an inspired Thunderbirds squad. To their credit, Twin City did not give up on this game nor go down easily. Props to Steve Harrison’s crew for fighting hard through the end.
- Patriks Marcinkevics scored his 40th goal of the season at 15:39, sending the Florence Center into an absolute frenzy. By that point I had been nervously pacing the floor near the players’ entrance. It’s a wonder I still had any voice after that goal.
- With one minute and thirty seconds left in the game, Patriks scored again, this time on an empty net.
Final Score: Pee Dee 5, Twin City 2
The Takeaway
What a game.
I’ve given myself a bit of time from Saturday night to digest the game, because wow was it a doozy. This was easily the IceCats’ biggest match of the year, and they absolutely rose to the occasion. Despite three straight losses, you could sense the momentum building over the past couple of weeks, and it all came to a head on April 4th.
Friday’s loss the night before was tough, but it still felt like a stepping stone to Saturday. The boys played their hearts out, and the fan support for Pee Dee up at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds was incredible. This fanbase believes in these guys, and you could tell that the fans’ support drives them. In the several conversations I’ve have with players or team staff, they frequently highlight just how much the fanbase’s support means to them. While Saturday night was themed as “Fan Appreciation Night”, I can assure you that the vast majority of the IceCat faithful wanted the guys to give them just one thing: a win that would get the team to the playoffs.
And boy, did the IceCats deliver.
Pee Dee’s defense was dialed in and vicious, and their offense was opportunistic. To put up four goals on a goaltender like Babik (not counting the empty-netter) is a feat worth celebrating. Four different IceCats put the puck in net (Zaichyk, Bedard, Rasulov, and Marcinkevics), and two of the scorers were defensemen. Speaking of goals, let me chase that rabbit for a moment.
Patriks Marcinkevics led all scorers on the IceCats with thirty-nine goals heading into Saturday night. After moving that number to forty-one after the game was over, Patriks not only led the IceCats in scoring, he led the entire FPHL. The elder Marcinkevics now leads all league scorers on the season, leapfrogging Columbus’ Tyler Barrow for the top spot.
While Patriks’ achievement earned him the “First Star” of the game, the “Third Star” stole the show. Timur Rasulov, Pee Dee’s veteran defenseman and only team member to play in all fifty-four games, scored his first goal of the season in the final seconds of the second period. When that puck slid past Babik, you would have thought the game was over by the crowd’s reaction. The Florence Center went collectively insane as the officials finally awarded “Uncle T” with his goal. Up to that point in the game, the momentum continued swinging back and forth between the two teams. But this goal was the turning point.
As the third period began, you could sense the tension, excitement, and anxious anticipation from the fans. But the IceCats had secured the momentum. Despite facing a desperate Thunderbirds team and two penalty kills in the final period, the IceCat defense held firm. When Patriks scored his goal with just under five minutes remaining, the pent-up nerves in the crowd detonated in a deafening roar. Despite there being four minutes and twenty-one seconds left, the result was a forgone conclusion.
Pee Dee was playoff-bound.
The IceCat ownership, front office and team did a fantastic job of executing a fan-focused evening, including one of the best themed games of the year with “Star Wars Night”. But to be quite honest, this entire season has felt like one fan appreciation event after another. This team has done so much for the Florence community in a little over half a year’s time. Whether it be fundraisers, visiting schools, volunteering at nonprofits, or just hanging around for hours at meet and greets or after games, the IceCats have established themselves as a force in the Pee Dee. If anyone deserved to be celebrated in the final regular season home game, it wasn’t the fans — it was the IceCats.
Well done, guys and gals. You all are the real heroes this season.
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