WARRENDALE— The final score was just a tease.

Mars controlled the puck and the game Tuesday night in defeating Beaver, 5-3, in a PIHLClass Afirst-round playoff game at Warrendale BladeRunners.

The Planets (15-5-1) took a 4-1 lead into the third period and added a power-play goal by Sam Mashuda — his second of the game — with 6:35 left in the contest. Beaver did not register a shot on goal in the first 10 minutes of the period.

"That can be rough on a goalie, standing back there by himself for so long,"Mars coach Eric Glover said of netminder Greg Lewis. "We were wondering if we should order him a pizza."

When the Bobcats (12-9-0) finally did get a shot on goal, it went in. Colby Hawkey broke in alone on Lewis and his shot dribbled past the goalie with 4:19 remaining.

"The puck bounced off his shinguard and got behind him,"Glover said. "It wasn't a very good goal."

Beaver added a shorthanded goal in the final two minutes to make the final score respectable. But the Planets held a 38-16 edge in shots.

Mars had a 1-0 lead after the first period and could have put the game away. Mashuda and Jake Takach had shots hit the goalpost in the first three minutes and Mashuda had a backhand shot sail wide of the net on a breakaway six minutes into the contest.

Mashuda was denied a hat trick when Beaver goalie John Richards stopped him from point-blank range early in the third period.

Mashuda used a similar backhand shot to score the Planets' lone goal of the first period.

Jake Robash scored twice in the second period for Mars, giving him 22 on the year, and Derek Sitterly notched his third goal of the campaign.

The Planets built a 4-0 lead before Beaver could get a puck behind Lewis.

Lewis entered the game with a 1.99 goals-against average and is among the leaders in PIHLClass A.

"Our guys are all healthy now and we were on our game tonight,"Glover said. "I'm pleased with this effort."

Mars defeated Beaver for the third time this season, owning 7-0 and 3-2 wins over the Bobcats during the regular campaign.

Beaver finished the 2005-06 season 2-19 before rebounding to reach the playoffs this year.

"If we had a 4-1 deficit entering the third period last year, we would have lost 10-1,"Beaver coach David Stuber said. "That's how far this program has come. Our guys never quit playing tonight."

Mars plays the winner of next week's Freeport-Westmont Hilltop game in the second round of the playoffs March 19. Freeport defeated Mars 6-3 late in the season after the two teams skated to a 2-2 tie earlier.

"We're going to get them this time,"Glover said. "They have two guys who can score goals, then it drops off. On our team, everybody can score."

Beaver 0 1 2—3Mars 1 3 1—5First PeriodMars-Sam Mashuda 13 (Cody Kier) 6:04

Second PeriodMars-Jake Robash 21 PP(Michael Heltman)3:28;

Mars-Derek Sitterly 3 Andrew Santa)5:42;

Mars-Robash 22 (Tyler Whiteford) 9:18;

Beaver-Landon Stahl 13 PP (Andrew Scott) 11:06

Third PeriodMars-Mashuda 14 PP(Ian Finney) 8:25;

Beaver-Colby Hawkey 20 (unassisted) 10:21;

Beaver-Christopher Lloyd 13 SH(Stahl) 13:19

Shots on goal-Beaver:3-9-4-16, Mars:13-12-13-38

Power play opportunities-Beaver 1-for-5, Mars 2-for-7