KITTANNING - All the Butler hockey team needed was one goal. From there, all it needed was chance.

In Thursday's PIHL Class AAA first-round playoff game against Franklin Regional, the Tornado's John Patutz one-timed a pass from Jared White with eight seconds left in overtime to give Butler a 2-1 victory over the Panthers at the Belmont Ice Complex.

With the win, Butler's first-ever in the state tournament, the Tornado will travel to Meadville Monday for a 7:30 p.m. game.

The win was set up by B.J. Tipton's game-tying goal with 8:32 left in regulation.

"Getting that first goal was important," said Butler coach Bob Hoehn. "We knew once we got it, it would give us a spark."

Another key for Butler (17-8) was the goaltending of Bucky Holt, who was peppered with 50 shots on goal.

The only one that got past Holt came just 7 minutes, 32 seconds into the game on a shot by Jim Daugherty in front of the net off a pass by David Hopper.

That goal came 30 seconds after Butler fired a flurry of shots at Panthers goalie Chris Fonzi but couldn't break through. Franklin Regional came back the other way and scored.

"When they got their first goal, you get the sense of urgency," said Hoehn. "You try to avoid it. I don't think anyone thought it would wind up 1-0. I figured they'd score a couple more and we'd score a couple."

Holt and Fonzi came up big in goal, constantly turning away great scoring opportunities.

"Bucky's been great in every game," said Hoehn. "He works very hard. I'm glad we were able to get him the win."

"Chris played fantastic," said Panthers coach Jim Damp. "(Butler's) a great team. We didn't expect to come in here and blow anybody away."

The Panthers (15-9-1) nearly doubled their lead, when, with 13:00 left in regulation, a shot by Franklin Regional appeared to have gone in, but the officials believed Holt stopped the puck and it was waved off.

Tipton's equalizer came just a few minutes later when Tipton was able to push the puck past Fonzi in front of a crowded net.

Spencer Crouse assisted on the goal, which gave the Tornado an extra step as well as new life.

"I think (Franklin Regional) was getting a little tired," said Hoehn. "We knew we had never won a state playoff game and they sucked it up in the third period."

Both teams had a chance to win the game in the closing seconds of regulation, but Holt and Fonzi made point-blank saves.

The game appeared to be going into another overtime period before Pakutz's heroics.

"He's probably the best shot," said Hoehn. "If he gets to one-time it, he seems to get the shot off successfully."

The win seems to have raised the Tornado's spirits as they look toward their second-round game.

"The nice thing was the way we won it," said Hoehn. "If you win 5-0, you're already confident. This is a big boost for us."

Notes:

The Panthers were 0-for-4 on the power play; the Tornado were 0-for-3. … Greg Rogerson went down in the first period with a knee injury, but later returned.