Magicians win Midwest to punch ticket to the Robertson Cup
Magicians forward Lleyton Roed leads all NAHL players in playoff scoring with 13 points in seven games played.
Midwest Division Finals, Game 5: Kenai River 2 @ MN Magicians 3 (Minnesota wins series, 3-2) – The Minnesota Magicians become the fourth and final team to punch their ticket to the 2021 NAHL Robertson Cup Championship as they built an early lead and held off a late Brown Bears rally to win Game 5 of the Midwest Division Finals, 3-2 on Sunday night. The win secured the Magicians’ first ever Divisional Playoff title and they will be the #4 seed heading into the Robertson Cup.
The Magicians seized control in the 1st period jumping out to a 2-0 lead. Michael Ferrandino opened the scoring halfway through the period with his first goal of the playoffs. That was followed by a goal from Devlin McCabe, who scored his 3rd goal of the playoffs to make it 2-0.
In the 2nd period, the lead increased to 3-0 as Trevor Kukkonen potted home a rebound for his 2nd goal of the playoffs in what would be the eventual game-winner. As they had all playoffs long, the Brown Bears showed resolve and did not give up. Before the end of the period, Peter Morgan scored to make it a 3-1 game after two periods.
In the 3rd period, the Brown Bears cut the lead down to a goal at 3-2 as Max Helgeson scored his league-leading 5th goal of the Robertson Cup Playoffs. However, the Magicians and goalie Andy Beran held the fort the rest of the way to hang on for the one-goal win.
Beran made 33 saves in the win, while Luke Pavicich made 34 saves in the loss.
