Andrew Gordon‘s hat trick led the offense and Michael Hutchinson‘s 39 saves made it stand up as the St. John’s IceCaps eliminated the Albany Devils with a 4-1 win in Game 4 on Friday night at Mile One Centre.
Gordon notched his first three goals of the series for his second career postseason hat trick.
Just 3:47 into the game, Jason Jaffray found a loose puck in the crease and shoveled it over to Gordon, who buried it to give the IceCaps a 1-0 lead for the fourth straight game.
With St. John’s shorthanded at 7:58 of the second period, Patrice Cormier won an offensive-zone faceoff to Gordon, who collected a rebound of his initial shot and fired it home to make it 2-0.
Jon Merrill cut the deficit in half at 9:17 of the second with a long drive from the right point that beat Hutchinson, but Gordon batted a loose puck out of mid-air at the side of the net to make it 3-1, and John Albert provided the final margin with a goal at 17:15 of the second period.
After going 17-5-1 (2.30, .923) in the regular season, Hutchinson finished the series with six goals allowed on 124 shots, good for a 1.51 goals-against average and a .952 save percentage in four games.
Albany went 0-for-6 on the power play in Game 4; St. John’s was 1-for-4.
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals – Series “D” (best-of-5)
4-St. John’s IceCaps vs. 5-Albany Devils
Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 25 – St. John’s 2, ALBANY 1
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 26 – ALBANY 4, St. John’s 2
Game 3 – Wed., Apr. 30 – ST. JOHN’S 1, Albany 0
Game 4 – Fri., May 2 – ST. JOHN’S 4, Albany 1
