It wasn't quite as heated or as close as most games between the Augusta Lynx and Greenville Grrrowl have been this season, but Saturday's game did follow one of the themes of the series:
The home team won.
The Lynx scored three power play goals to beat the Grrrowl 4-2 for their seventh win in a row at Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center. Augusta finished the season series with Greenville 3-1-2.
Half of the games went beyond regulation, and the past two in Augusta were filled with penalties that included four ejections. Saturday's game had just 15 penalties and no ejections, but Grrrowl forwards Simon Ferguson and Richard Pitirri picked up 10-minute misconduct penalties in the final five minutes.
Lynx goalie Matus Kostur earned his first win in four tries against the Grrrowl, stopping 34 shots. Kostur went into his first start at home since Feb. 5 ready to avenge an overtime loss in Greenville during which he gave up the tying goal in the waning seconds of regulation.
"I said, 'No way, I'm stopping everything,' " Kostur said. "And we got a big win tonight."
Defenseman Sean Connolly got the Lynx off to a 1-0 start on a power play goal with 5:36 left in the first. About 4 minutes later, Ken Magowan got a man-advantage goal of his own to give Augusta a two-goal lead heading into the second. Brian Passmore scored his second goal in three games to give Kostur a 3-0 lead midway through the second, but the Grrrowl weren't ready to lie down.
Maris Ziedins and Sam Paolini cut the lead to one with a pair of goals 2 minutes apart, and the Grrrowl went into the second intermission trailing 3-2.
Augusta forward Dan Sullivan, who is known more for his fists than his hands, continued to have a hot stick for the Lynx in the third. His power play goal with 13:28 left in the game gave Augusta its final advantage and gave him a point in four of his past five games.
Then it was time for a little of what has made the Lynx-Grrrowl rivalry what it has been this year. Sullivan drew a 5-minute boarding penalty for a hit on Ferguson, who retaliated along with Grrrowl forward Colin Pepperall. The end result was a three-minute Greenville power play, which the Lynx killed off without giving the Grrrowl much of a chance at scoring.
The win moves Augusta (23-28-7, 53 points) to within 14 points of Greenville (31-23-5) for the American Conference's final playoff spot. It's still a long shot, but the Lynx aren't ready to give up yet.
"Anything can happen," Sullivan said. "And I'm a strong believer in that."
Reach Kristy Shonka at (706) 823-3216 or kristy.shonka@augustachronicle.com.
TURNING POINT: Forward Brian Passmore's second goal in his past three games gave the Lynx a 3-0 lead and ended up as the game-winner.
PLUS: The Lynx won their seventh in a row at home and trail Greenville and Mississippi by 14 points for the American Conference's final playoff spot.
MINUS: The Lynx were a man short after defenseman Phil Cole was recalled to the AHL's Albany River Rats and defenseman Evan Nielsen decided to sit out rather than come to Augusta after he was traded from Trenton.
TODAY: 4:05 p.m., Texas at Lynx
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