Mikael Backlund doesn‘t want to finish second again. On Sunday night, he finished off the Tri-City Americans.
Backlund had a brilliant night for Kelowna, scoring two goals and earning one assist, as the Rockets pasted the Tri-City Americans 6-2 in WHL playoff action at Prospera Place. Kelowna now advances to the Western Conference championship, a first since 2005, having won its semifinal series against Tri-City in six games.
The Rockets lost the first two contests of the best-of-seven affair, but rallied to win the last four with strong, physical performances. On Sunday, though, it was Backlund‘s performance that sealed the series.
“Mikael is a fiery kid and he wants to win,” Rockets head coach Ryan Huska said of Backlund, a Calgary Flames draft pick who finished second at the 2009 world junior hockey championship in Ottawa as a member of Sweden‘s silver-medal winning team. “That‘s why Calgary took him early in the draft, and he‘s going to be a very good NHL player. He wants to win, and when you have that inside you, the emotion tends to come out.”
Did it ever, as Tri-City netminder Chet Pickard found out.
In Kelowna‘s 4-3 overtime victory last Wednesday, Pickard stopped Backlund from scoring with a diving glove side on what looked to be a sure backhand goal. In the seconds afterwards, Pickard gave Backlund an earful. On Sunday, Backlund bombarded Pickard with trash talk and some finger pointing after scoring his first of the night.
“He did the same thing to me, so I just gave it back,” said Backlund.
Said Pickard: “It‘s part of the game. We‘re going to play each other tough. He‘s a great player and he‘s scoring on me, and, obviously, I‘m not going to be too happy about that. But, at the end of the day, I‘m sure our paths will cross and he‘s a good player. I have all the respect for him.
“I‘m not going to do something stupid. I have class and he has a lot of class. It‘s just the excitement and the emotions of the game.”
Late in the first period, with the puck in Tri-City‘s right cornerboards, Backlund stickhandled through two defenders, Mitch McColm and Petr Stoklasa, dished out front to teammates Ian Duval and Cody Almond, then skated in for the rebound, which he punched home to make it 1-1.
“Backlund passed it to Duval, then Duval passed it to me,” said Almond. “I couldn‘t quite put it in (the net), then Backs came in and finished it off. That goal, it was pretty crazy, but both of his goals were pretty nice.”
Late in the second, he made it 5-2 after busting through another pair of Tri-City defenders for a short-handed breakaway, which he converted by scoring stick-side.
That first goal, however, where Backlund singled out Pickard by pointing directly at him, had the Rockets and the standing-room crowd of 6,136 talking.
“I like games where there‘s emotion, where if you win it‘s good and if you lose you‘re out,” said Backlund. “Those are the best games to play.”
The six-foot centre from Vasteras, Sweden, has experience in that department, having settled for silver in Ottawa. Of course, Canada bested Sweden in the gold-medal game, 5-1, and, a week later, Backlund was in Kelowna colours after leaving his men‘s team in Sweden. The Rockets selected Backlund in the CHL‘s 2007 import draft, 43rd overall.
“This is the best decision I ever made,” said Backlund, 20. “I was a little confused before and I didn‘t know what to do. But I felt I needed a fresh start, and when I looked at Kelowna‘s lineup before I came, I knew it was a good lineup.
“I knew we could go deep into the playoffs, and now we‘re here. We can go farther and I know that. We have a real good chance; we‘re a real good team.”
Jamie Benn, with his seventh playoff goal, Curt Gogol, Ian Duval and Evan Bloodoff also scored for Kelowna, which, following a 1-1 tie after 20 minutes, blew open the game with five goals in the second period.
Americans captain Taylor Procyshen, who opened Sunday‘s scoring halfway through the first, and Brooks Macek replied for Tri-City, which trailed 6-2 heading into the third.
Chet Pickard made 26 saves for the Americans before getting pulled late in the third, while Mark Guggenberger stopped 12 shots for the Rockets.
For Sunday‘s game, Tri-City pulled out all the stops by inserting injured forwards Mitch Fadden and Jason Reese. However, despite the addition of their top offensive guns, Fadden (arm) and Reese (knee) weren‘t at their best, and neither added much punch for the Americans, who were outshot 34-14.
“We didn‘t have enough horses . . . if everyone had been healthy, maybe it would have been a different series,” said Pickard. “You have to credit Kelowna because they had a good plan by coming out and hitting us clean. And it worked well for them.
“They have a lot of good players over there, and I always felt that the team I lost out to, I‘d root on for the rest of the way. I have a couple of good friends on that team, and I hope they win it all.”
Five years ago, the Rockets eliminated the Americans in the same manner and almost on the same date. In that 2004 semifinal series, the Rockets also lost the first two games, then rallied to win the next four, including a 2-1 decision in Game 6 on April 11.
ICE CHIPS: Kelowna‘s scratches were RW Kyle St. Denis (concussion, indefinite), D Aaron Borejko and RW Spencer Main. Tri-City‘s scratches were D Jarrett Toll (ribs), Jason Gardiner, Spencer Asuchak, D Brock Sutherland, RW Brock Zimak and G Drew Owsley. . . . Kelowna was 0-for-5 on the power play; Tri-City was 1-for-2. . . . The three stars were all Rockets: Backlund, Bloodoff and Gogol. Top of Page
