In a game that featured more plot twists than many mystery novels do, Air Force emerged with a crucial Game 1 victory Friday night against Army West Point in an Atlantic Hockey quarterfinal series at West Point, N.Y.

Junior forward Blake Bride beat goaltender Gavin Abric short side with 4:30 left in overtime to give the Falcons a wild 5-4 victory.

Bride’s winner was set up when sophomore defenseman Sam Brennan, seeing a clogged shooting lane, fired the puck off the end boards. It caromed to Bride, who was stationed to Abric’s right, and the assistant captain wasted no time putting the puck past the Black Knights goalie, who made 46 saves and kept his team in it.

“We had the majority of quality shots,” Air Force coach Frank Serratore said. “But that doesn’t mean Army couldn’t have won. It was a great hockey game – maybe it wasn’t the cleanest – but it was a lot of fun.”

Bride’s goal was his third of the season, and unquestionably his biggest in his Falcons career. But it wouldn’t have happened had not a couple of other events taken place prior.

First, sophomore defenseman Luke Robinson scored the first goal of his Air Force carer with 7:06 to play in the third period. Taking a pass from Will Gavin in the high slot, Robinson uncorked a shot through traffic to tie it at 4-4.

“We couldn’t have been more excited for him,” said junior forward Willie Reim, who scored two goals. “He’s a guy who does everything the right way. We knew it was coming, and it was huge when it did.”

Next, senior goalie Alex Schilling (33 saves) made at least a trio of huge saves near the start of overtime to keep the clock moving and bodies flying over the boards.

“They stormed us and Schills made some big saves early,” Reim said. “That sent a message to the rest of us – it’s now or never. We started getting pucks to the net and doing what we do best.”

Settling in after a scary start

The game got off to an unsettling start. Black Knights captain Colin Bilek appeared to collapse on the bench, and the game was stopped 1:06 in to allow emergency personnel to attend to him. After a lengthy delay, he was helped to the Army locker room. No update on his condition was available after the game, although Army coach Brian Riley said after the game that Bilek had taken a hit before skating to the bench.

Reim tallied 6:43 into the game just outside the right-wing dot, but Army (14-16-4) tied it 10 minutes later on Joey Baez‘s Johnny-on-the-spot tally. Michael Sacco got a shot on Schilling on off a rush down the right wing, a rebound came out in front to Baez as he went through the slot.

Two minutes later, Brennan, who had three points, made it 2-1 on a power-play one-timer from the right circle of a pass from Gavin (two assists).

Seconds? No thanks

Then came a period that at best could be described as bizarre from an Air Force standpoint.

Army emerged with a 4-3 lead after outscoring the Falcons 3-1 in the frame. It wasn’t so much that Air Force (14-16-3) had outshot Army 18-6 in the period that made that outcome so odd, it was how the score flipped.

Eric Huss scored his third goal of the season on a seemingly harmless shot from the blue line by the wall to Schilling’s left. The puck appeared to bounce over the goalie and the score was tied 4:02 into the period.

Robinson took a penalty shortly thereafter, and the Black Knights cashed in on Eric Butte‘s 11th goal of the season. He had deflected a shot by Daniel Haider, got his own rebound and scored 5:34 in.

Reim restored the tie only 38 seconds later when he converted a feed from Nate Horn (two assists) on Abric’s doorstep.

But Army retook the lead with 3:13 left in the second when defenseman Noah Wilson fired a shot from below the goal line that appeared to hit the back of Schilling’s leg and go in. The goal was Wilson’s first of the season.

Go figure

That set the stage for first Robinson’s then Bride’s heroics in what was a most un-Air Force-Army game.

“It’s funny,” Reim said. “Your normal, vintage Army-Air Force game might have one goal or a couple goals. It’s just shutdown defense.

“Tonight, both teams were all line rush all the team. It shows we can play other ways.”

So are we back to the high-flying days of the 1980s all of a sudden? Don’t count on it.

“What is a surprise to me is the amount of goals scored,” Serratore said. “Abric and Schills were good at moments but this wasn’t a typical game for either of them.

“Alex has saved his teammates’ bacon most of the year, but tonight the team saved his.”

Around AHA

Three of Atlantic Hockey’s four quarterfinal series started out with overtime. Would you expect anything less?

Only AIC won in regulation, topping Bentley 5-2. RIT edged Sacred Heart, 1-0, on defenseman Dan Willett’s goal 10:17 into the extra session. Not to be outdone, Mercyhurst defeated second-seeded Canisius 2-1 in double overtime. Owen Norton scored after more than 83 minutes of game time.

©First Line Editorial 2022