Chris Clegg
South Peace News
In the end, it wasn’t much of a series.
The Falher Pirates swept the Grimshaw Huskies four straight in their best-of-seven NPHL East Division Semifinal Feb. 14 after a resounding 10-0 win the Mile Zero town.
Cruz Cote, Darren Kramer and Josh Sylvain each scored twice while Neil Maisonneuve, Taylor Cote, Eric Dentinger and Walker Cote added singles. Dion Knelson added three assists while Kramer, Kevin Monfette, Dentinger, Rob Lemay and Joseph Sylvain each added two helpers.
The Pirates lead 4-0 after one period and 9-0 after two.
Ryan Noble stopped 24 shots to record the shutout. It was his third this season again the Huskies, with two coming in the regular season in home ice wins, a 6-0 win on Oct. 29 and 8-0 on Jan. 7.
Stats tell a dominating story. The Pirates outscored the Huskies 33-10 in the series, and were 11-for-24 on the power play to Grimshaw’s 2-for-20. The Pirates outshot the Huskies by an average of 25 shots on goal per game (197 to 97) and took only 66 penalties in minutes to Grimshaw’s 111.
The Pirates now turn their attention to the Manning Comets in the East Final. The teams tied for first in the East this season. The home team won all four meetings with the Pirates winning on home ice 4-3 (in a shootout) and 4-2 while the Comets prevailed at home 4-2 and 6-2.