Miracle at Mennen: Dodgers Move on to Semis

MORRISTOWN – After 45 minutes of sublime goaltending, it was fitting that the Madison High School's ice hockey team celebrated the biggest win in program history by heading straight for Grant Perry after the buzzer.

The freshman netminder stopped 33 shots as the Dodgers, the No. 21 seed, shocked No. 4 Chatham, 3-2, Sunday afternoon in the NJSIAA Public B quarterfinal round at Mennen Arena.

"It still hasn't sunk in yet," Perry said. "Madison has never won a state playoff game before this year, and to win three in a row now, it feels great."

Madison (17-5-2) advances to the state semifinals against eighth-seeded West Essex, Wednesday night at 8 p.m. at Mennen Arena.

It was a victory that could not have been scripted any better: 48 hours earlier, the Dodgers left the ice angry and embarrassed after suffering an 8-0 loss to West Morris in the Haas Cup final.

Awaiting Madison after that loss was next-door neighbor rival Chatham–a team playing in the elite MCSSIHL-Mennen Division, and a team that Madison coach Dave Hansen had tried in vain to schedule for six years.

But Sunday, the plucky Dodgers grabbed an early lead, and hung on for dear life. The Cougars (14-10-3) outshot Madison for the game, 35-15, and 29-11 over the final two periods.

"We came in to Friday's game under a lot of pressure, because we expected to win and we had lost in the Haas Cup final last year," said freshman forward Erik Andersson. "Today the pressure was on Chatham."

Andersson scored two of Madison's three goals, including an empty-netter to give the Dodgers a 3-1 lead with 38 seconds left.

But it was Perry, and a spectacular defensive effort, that put Madison in position to win.

"He had to have a big game," Hansen said. "Grant was very focused, handled the puck, swallowed it at the right time."

Madison scored first, a power play goal, on an Andersson slapshot with 7:37 to go in the second period. Up to that point, neither team had shown a decided advantage in a close-to-the-vest, defensive struggle, resulting in just 10 combined first-period shots.

Chatham would up their offensive pressure immediately after, but were frustrated and unable to finish most of their chances.

"It felt like they weren't getting many good opportunities," Perry said. "And those times they did, our guys got down on the ice to stop them."

The Cougars finally evened it up with 2:17 left in the second, seconds after a Chatham power play ended. Danny Casey kept an attempted clearance in the Madison zone, and he fired a slapshot that just bounced off Perry and into the net.

The Dodgers would capitalize on a similar mistake at the other end of the ice just minutes later. This time, it was senior Brett Perry intercepting a clearance at the slot. He found an open lane to the net and fired a high slapshot, which beat Chatham goalie Andrew Mortensen (12 saves) and gave Madison a 2-1 lead after two periods.

"I knew we wouldn't score a lot," Hansen said. "I just hoped we'd get a lead, and not play on our heels like we did Friday."
 
In the third period, Chatham never relented. But neither did Perry, the freshman.

The Cougars seemed to live inside the blue line–including one tense stretch of two consecutive minutes in the attacking zone in the final seven minutes–but their every attack was repelled by a tiring Dodger defense.

Perry came up with 12 crucial third-period saves, and coolly covered up the puck when necessary. Around him, defensemen Charlie Olendorp, Bobby Yutko and Greg Maxwell sacrificed their bodies to block Chatham's slapshots.

"I knew they would come up and shoot from everywhere," Hansen said. "I thought we would face 40 shots tonight, and they came close. We made sure to keep them outside. If they scored from outside, then it's just a great shot. We wanted to keep them in the corner all night, and our defensive coverage was right on."

Chatham coach Harvey Cohen called a timeout with just under two minutes to play, setting up the Cougars' final push. Mortensen was pulled with about one minute left, but Madison's defense held strong against the extra attacker.

Finally, with 38 seconds to play, Andersson found himself with the puck on a one-on-one breakaway. Rather than firing a long-distance shot, he skated to the slot and put it between the legs of a backtracking Chatham defender and in the net.

"A game like this just shows that anything can happen," Hansen said. "Anybody can beat anybody. The team with the most heart at the end is going to win."

Chatham's Billy Pellegrino made things more interesting when he scored with 11 seconds to play, but the Cougars couldn't get the puck back in the Madison zone before time ran out and the celebration ensued.


NOTES
--The Dodgers played Sunday's game without Brett Anton, who was disqualified for fighting in the Haas Cup final. He will also be unavailable Wednesday night.
--Only four penalties were called in the entire game, all in the second period. The Dodgers were 1-for-2 on the power play–Andersson's first goal–while the Cougars were 0-for-2.


PUBLIC B NOTES
The Public B bracket has been filled with upsets this year. Besides Chatham, top-seeded Ramsey and second-seeded Kinnelon have also been knocked out, both in the round of 16. In addition, Madison's playoff path was cleared somewhat by Bernards knocking out No. 5 seed Glen Rock in the first round.

The bracket is down to the final four teams after Sunday's action.

Madison will face No. 8 seed West Essex, which defeated No. 16 West Milford 5-4, Wednesday night at 8 at Mennen.

The other semifinal will feature 10th-seeded Hopewell Valley taking on the winner of the Sunday night game between No. 3 Jefferson and No. 6 Ramapo. The puck for that semifinal will be dropped Wednesday at 4 p.m., also at Mennen.

The winners of those two games will face off Saturday afternoon at the Prudential Center in Newark, home of the New Jersey Devils, for the state championship.


SCORING SUMMARY
[21] Madison  0  2  1  -  3
[4] Chatham   0  1  1  -  2

FIRST PERIOD
None

SECOND PERIOD
MAD- Erik Andersson (power play, unassisted), 7:23
CHAT- Donny Casey (unassisted), 12:43
MAD- Brett Perry (from Lou Cecala), 13:58

THIRD PERIOD
MAD- Andersson (empty net, unassisted), 14:22
CHAT- Billy Pellegrino (unassisted), 14:49


SHOTS ON GOAL
[21] Madison   4    6   5   -  15
[4] Chatham    6  16  13  -  35