I've lived in KC for 30 years. It's not a great place to be a hockey fan. I loved the Blades, but the IHL folded and the DeVos' took their ball and went home to Grand Rapids. We have a dubious history with ice facilities.
Since the IHL days, this is the best minor league hockey team I've seen since Larry Dyck was between the pipes for the Blades.
I was there last night.
Look, I love living in KC and I'm glad the stands were full, but Kansas City hockey fans are not good fans.
Not every time a Mavs player falls is it a penalty. Ice is slippery. Contact is allowed. Every big hit by an opponent isn't a penalty. When two players are grabbing each other behind the net and the ref puts up his arm and points at two players, it means he's taking both guys. If Nachbauer comes in and full-on uppercuts a guy in the scrum, it's an additional minor for roughing (and a dumb one). All he had to do was push the Everblade up against the glass and facewash him. No penalty. He didn't do that. They made the right call. The officials can't call every chippy play behind the play. It's the playoffs. The second period was chippy. You can't call a penalty on every chippy play. No advantage? No penalty. Those two young officials did a very good job in a very difficult game to officiate.
Stop watching the puck. When a Mavs player (Borchardt, I think) deflects a dumb Everblade clearing pass up the middle, thus creating a turnover and a two-on-one in the offensive zone, I shouldn't be the only guy in the section to stand up. Berzolla stretched and deflected the pass....still, it was a quick 2-on-1. Stand!
When Josh Ho-Sang takes the puck into his own zone to create space, he's not "going the wrong way" and if you call him "slow", you're not a good hockey fan. He was the fastest guy on the ice (but, boy does he make a lot of mistakes, no wonder he can't stick in the 'A').
And, the cowbells. OMG. I know I just have to live with them, but, ugh, so annoying.
OK, so that's all. Great battle. Great win. I hope the series gets back to KC for Game 6. With LaFontaine in net, I think it will (not sure why Morris started G1).
Cable Dahmer Arena 140 dB level of music (if you can call it that) is dishing out to ~6,000 KC-area live sports consumers & visitors & arena staff every game night. 
