The Indianapolis Racers closed the book on the Stingers in a for game
sweep to advance to the second round of the playoffs. The Stingers were the favored club
to win the series but failed to live up to their potential. Slater felt that the players
were content with just earning a playoff berth. "When we clinched a playoff berth it
seemed we became satisfied. That scared me." Slater would admit.
|
© Courtesy of Cincinnati
Public Library. |
The puck was nowhere to be seen but the Stingers Larose
and Carroll battle anyway with Racers LeClerc and Sicnski. |
During the opening minutes of the
game, the Stingers really went after the Racers. But it would be the Racers who would
score. The goal came when the Stingers failed to clear the puck from behind their own
goal. Blair MacDonald swept in and took the puck. He then fed Reg Thomas who fired a shot
from the left circle to score.
The Racers went ahead by two goals when
MacDonald scored at 9:02. The goal came when Pat Stapleton took a shot which was blocked.
Gene Peacosh then picked up the puck while Stinger John Hughes tried to block Peacosh. The
puck came loose and Brain MacDonald nabbed the puck and scored the goal.
In the third period Cincinnati finally
scored at goal when Greg Carroll got the puck from teammate Ron Plumb during a power play.
Carroll took a hard shot from the slot that found its mark beyond the Racers goaltender
Michel Dion. But the Racers scored an insurance goal at 15:04 when Reg Thomas took a loose
puck from the Stingers defense in their own end. Thomas passed to Al Karlander who skated
in front of LaPointe and chipped the puck into the net. Karlander had been out of the
previous three playoff games against the Stingers with an ankle injury. But his goal was
the final nail the Stingers 1976-77 season. The game concluded with a final score of 3-1.. |
