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Impact Players: Anderson, McAnanama, Tosto May 2, 2025 | ||
Posted by: Bob Howard Credit: Binghamton Hockey.net | ||
May 2, 2025 - by Taylor Welch - BinghamtonHockey.net Jesse Anderson has lit a fire that just hasn't stopped burning. He has had great defensive plays this postseason, and it didn't take long for him to shine in this game. Just 3 minutes into the first period, Nate Keeley would try to send a pass to Gordon Whalen that was easily detected by Anderson. Now moving on to the 2nd period, just 4 minutes in, Jan Salak would stretch pass to Zach White, where Anderson would do a great job pushing him off the puck and taking him down to the ice. Later on in the 2nd, he would have a skate race with Keeley, keeping the pressure on him enough that Keeley couldn't handle the puck and would be sent into the corner. Aside from Keeley Anderson, also did an excellent job keeping Gus Ford from having scoring opportunities by stopping a 2-on-1 breakaway or using several players to force Ford off the puck. Anderson has had huge defensive plays that have prevented the opposing team from having a chance at reaching our netminder. He is the kind of player you want to have during the playoffs. "Let me see the puck or block it." Connor McAnanama can be heard saying in an interview with Bob Howard on the Power Play Post Show, and you can really see that the guys playing in front of him have taken a hold of those words. They have done an excellent job blocking shots or getting out of his way so he is able to see the puck and the gameplay in front of him. Out of 35 shots on goal, only 1 was able to get past our netminder after a D-man broke his stick, and Carolina had a 2-on-1 breakaway. McAnanama held his ground, covering post to post, making huge saves. He continues to be a rock with his. 84 goals against average and a .967 save percentage. The goalie of the year is truly just dominating in the playoffs. This player was a double center tonight, playing on the third line with Clark and Swain while also playing center for the extra forwards Mott and Sirota; however, those weren't the only lines he was a part of. Blake Tosto early in the first period would take a great pass from Cam Clark and skate down for a scoring opportunity that was glove saved by Mario Cavaliere. His next big play would come almost halfway through the second period, where he would set Nick Swain up beautifully for a shot on goal. Later in that period, Joseph Kennedy would take a shot that was punched away by Connor McAnanama, where Tosto would get the rebound and try to clear the zone. As I mentioned, Tosto had played more than just the 2 lines he was centering for; there was also a great play 5 minutes into the 3rd Gavin Yates would get the puck in the neutral zone, and seeing that this could be a 3-on-2 opportunity, Tosto hustles down the ice to get in front of Cavaliere as Yates would pass to Don Olivieri, who then passes along for Tosto, keeping the pressure on Cavaliere. Overall, Tosto had a great game, knowing whether to create a scoring opportunity or to create one for a teammate. This has been, in my opinion, his greatest game of the postseason. I think it is also worth giving a shout out to our entire second line, Yates, Stephan, and Olivieri. They have been the point scorers in these games and just have been overall phenomenal.
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