The Falher Pirates face a difficult but not impossible task if they want to defend their NPHL title.
The Pirates are down 3-1 in the best-of-seven NPHL Quarter-Final to the Grande Prairie Athletics after a 5-2 home ice loss Feb. 14. Coupled with a 5-0 loss at Grande Prairie on Feb. 12 after a 5-3 Pirates’ win Feb. 10, the Pirates now must win three straight games to advance to the Semi-Final.
All four games in the series have been close with no team scoring more than five goals.
On home ice Feb. 14, the Pirates fell behind early and never caught up. Darby Berg scored twice and Lyndin Lewis added the other as the Athletics took a 3-0 first period lead.
After a scoreless second period, the Pirates caught fire. Eric Dentinger scored two power play goals in 18 seconds and with 6:59 remaining it was game-on!
However, the Athletics were handed a power play and scored immediately as Clayton Brown found the mark. Sheldon Kwiatkowski added an insurance goal to seal the deal.
The Pirates outshot the Athletics 39-33 including 20-10 during their third period comeback that fell short.
Will McCreight made 23 saves in the 5-0 shutout in the third game of the series at Grande Prairie. Lindon Calliou scored two first period goals which would be all the Athletics would need. Carter Berg and Denon Bamber scored in the second period and Darby Berg in the third to give the Athletics a 2-1 series lead.
The Pirates tied the series 1-1 with a 5-3 home ice win Feb. 10 in a game where they rallied from a deficit twice to win.
Lewis scored first to give the Athletics the lead until Pat Rowan tied the game before the end of the period.
In the second period, Trevor Tokarz gave the Pirates a 3-2 lead but Bamber and Keenan Moberly scored to give the Athletics the lead.
In the third period, the Athletics outshot the Pirates 18-9 but were outscored 3-0. Walker Cote’s power play goal in the first minute tied the game 3-3. Kayle Dierker’s goal with 8:11 remaining proved to be the game-winner while Joseph Sylvain added an insurance goa with 2:08 remaining.
Meanwhile, goaltender Ryan Noble stopped all 18 third period shots to preserve the win. The Athletics outshot the Pirates 44-28 meaning Noble stopped 41 shots in the win.
Game 5 was at Grande Prairie Feb. 17. The sixth game, if necessary, is at Falher Feb. 19 with the seventh game, if necessary, back in Grande Prairie Feb. 21.
Chris Clegg
South Peace News