By Trevor Grimm

There’s a reason hockey games last 60 minutes - regardless of the score.

With less than four minutes to go in game two of the Western Conference finals, trailing 4-1 on the scoreboard, Waterloo coach Matt Smaby pulled goaltender Carter Casey for the extra attacker. Until recent years, hockey logic dictated there was no point in doing so in a margin larger than two goals.

The Black Hawks scored twice, and nearly tied the game on a frantic flurry in the game’s final seconds.

There were two games past that point. Waterloo never allowed another goal. A huge story of the series was the stellar play of Carter Casey, who joined the Black Hawks as a practice goalie after his junior season ended at Grand Rapids High School on the Minnesota Iron Range.

Casey is 10-2 in these playoffs, posting a 2.34 goals against average and a .925 save percentage. Not bad for a 17-year-old with five games of USHL experience before these playoffs. He went 3-2 with a 2.08 goals against average and a .920 save percentage after injuries moved him up two spots on the depth chart into the starter’s spot late in the season.

Behind the play of Casey, over the last 123 minutes of the series, Waterloo outscored Lincoln 10-0.

Thursday’s 3-0 Black Hawks win sent them to the Clark Cup Final, where they will face the Muskegon Lumberjacks. And while this one had a very different feel - Lincoln pushed back with much more physicality than the night before - Waterloo had this game in control most the night.

They outshot the Stars 14-7 in the first period, and led 1-0. In the second, the shots on goal were 13-7, and the Hawks tallied again to take a two goal lead into the final stanza.

Lincoln came ready on this night. Goaltender Jan Shostak looked solid, perhaps his best performance of the series. The physicality stepped up. There was more energy.

The special teams continued to be not-so-special for the Anderson Cup champions. Waterloo was 2 for 5 on the power play, while Lincoln was scoreless on five opportunities. For the series, Waterloo was 2 for 10 on the power play, while Lincoln was 0 for 12.

Yet this series never felt decided by special teams or the occasional bounce. With the exception of the first 57 minutes of game two, Waterloo seemed to dictate the play, the tempo, and the pace of the series. They earned the win on all facets of the game.

Now, the buzzsaw runs into another buzzsaw. Waterloo faces Muskegon in the Clark Cup Final. The Lumberjacks have won their last seven playoff games, including three game sweeps of Youngstown and Waterloo.

Every goal will count in this series. While Muskegon has taken the unorthodox step of alternating goalies in the playoffs, Shikhabutdin Gadzhiev has posted a minuscule 1.74 goals against and a gaudy .948 save percentage in his six appearances in the postseason.

The series starts this coming weekend with 6:35 starts Friday and Saturday in Waterloo, before heading to Muskegon for games three and four a week later.

Buzzsaw vs buzzsaw. Something has to give.

If it’s anything like the last two rounds for each team, the real winners will be the fans.