Shooting Stars sink 'Cudas

All-Stars rally behind four consecutive goals for overtime victory

A funny thing happened on the way to a blowout in Tuesday night's WHA2 All-Star Game.

A hockey game broke out.

When Alabama's Doug Lawrence tied the game at 6 midway through the third period for the All-Stars, both teams began to check and play defense, sending the game into overtime.

With 1:27 left in the extra period, Miami's Kevin Swider slipped the game-winner past Randy Hevey for a 7-6 victory over the Jacksonville Barracudas in front of 2,917 at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.

Down 6-3 after Derek Toninato scored his second goal of the game early in the third period, the All-Stars scored four consecutive goals for the win.

The goal that started the scoring binge was one of the few not scored in spectacular fashion. Rather, Macon's Steve Zoryk's slap shot from just short of the blue line floated past Hevey.

"There was a guy coming in on a diagonal, cutting across [Zoryk's] shooting line, and I thought he was going to tip it, but he came across my vision and didn't tip it and the [puck] just slid right under," Hevey said. "They're an all-star team, so it was only a matter of time."

After Zoryk's goal, the All-Stars picked up their effort. Less than two minutes later, Alabama's Ryan Prentice got the All-Stars to within one goal.

Lawrence scored five minutes later to tie the score, stealing the puck in front of the Barracudas' net and beating Hevey with 10 minutes left in the third period.

As the clock wound down in regulation, the play became more physical. The players began banging bodies, throwing elbows and fighting for the puck. Neither team scored in the final 10 minutes, sending the game into a 3-on-3, five-minute overtime.

Jacksonville's Chris Hackett skates into the spotlight during pregame introductions on Tuesday night.
RICK WILSON/The Times-Union

"We're an all-star team," Swider said. "We've never played together, and we're trying to make some fancy plays. But in the end, we buckled down."

For the game's first 15 minutes, neither offense could break through, and Hevey and All-Star goalie David Goverde of Orlando made several spectacular saves.

Then came the last five minutes of the first period. Zoryk scored the game's first goal on a feed from Prentice. Two minutes later, a goal from Lakeland's Chris Cerrella gave the All-Stars a 2-0 lead, and it looked as if they would skate away with the game.

Before that could happen, Jamie Miller, John McCabe and Toninato rallied the Barracudas.

Miller scored three goals as the Barracudas outshot the All-Stars 19-5 in the second period and took a 5-3 lead.

Miller's first goal came just one minute into the period and got Jacksonville to within one. Swider notched his first goal to put the All-Stars back on top by two, but 'Cudas center Kory Baker's goal less than a minute later gave Jacksonville the jolt of energy it was lacking.

"We really tried to turn it up in the second period," Jacksonville coach Ron Duguay said.

Miller then scored back-to-back goals for a hat trick, and Toninato opened the third period with a goal. Jacksonville looked as if it was going to pull away before Zoryk's trickling shot changed the momentum.

"I don't think we were tired, but I think it might have been more a mental thing," Barracudas forward Jay McCabe said. "We had a good second period, and mentally I think we kind of sat back."

Jacksonville's Jamie Miller (17) and John McCabe celebrate after Miller scores his third goal of the second period in Tuesday's WHA2 All-Star Game.
RICK WILSON/The Times-Union

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