Blazers nip 'Kings, force 7th game

Other than the obvious — a win — the Blazers got what they wanted Saturday night.

They got Game 7.

By beating Memphis in a 5-4 thriller before 8,947 at the Ford Center, the Blazers forced a seventh and final game in their Central Hockey League series with the RiverKings.

Game 7 will be Tuesday night at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven, Miss.

"Tonight the tale of the tape was the specialty teams,” Blazers coach Doug Sauter said after his team outscored Memphis 4-1 in power plays. "I like our team. I like how we play. I like how we keep persevering and don't let things break our focus.”

The Blazers' first three stars were Chad Hinz with two goals (including the game-winner with 4:04 left) and two assists; Ryan Watson with three assists; and Mike Burgoyne with one goal and one assist.

Hinz increased his six-game playoff total to three goals and five assists. Including his three regular season games after arriving from Austria, Hinz has five goals and nine assists in nine Blazers games.

"Just being around the guys is nice,” said Hinz, a native Canadian. "Nothing against the guys in Europe, but there's always that language barrier there. It's nice to come home and play with some Canadian boys and American boys.”

Watson, playing his best hockey of the year, raised his postseason totals to two goals and six assists. He also had one of the biggest plays of the game, poking the puck away from Memphis goaltender Larry Sterling with about four minutes left in the game and feeding Hinz for the game-winner.

For the 13th time in their last 16 games, the Blazers allowed the first goal. The Tyler McGregor score came just 2:39 into the contest, and on Memphis' only shot on goal in the opening 12 minutes.

The Blazers responded with a pair of power-play goals in a 55-second span.

Regular season point leader Mike Burgoyne scored his first playoff goal at 6:49, and Marty Standish directed in a 50-foot Peter Robertson slapshot at 7:44.

Oklahoma City outshot Memphis 11-1 in the first 12 minutes and had a 17-7 advantage after one period.

Burgoyne appeared to have scored his second goal of the night with 2:31 left in the first period.

But the play was whistled dead by referee Mark Lemelin before the puck passed the goal line.

The Blazers scored their third power-play goal 59 seconds into the second period, for a 3-1 lead. Hinz scored the goal, as the Blazers' shots on goals edge increased to 20-7.

Memphis responded with two goals, including McGregor's second of the game, to tie the score 3-3 midway through the second period.

But the Blazers went ahead 1:12 later, when Gordon Bell scored the team's fourth power-play goal of the night.

While the Blazers were 4-for-7 on power plays in the first two periods, Memphis was 0-for-4. But the Kings scored on their first power play in the third period to tie the score again at 2:20.