A ferocious third period rally by the Island #2 Powell River Kings wasn’t enough, as they failed to take a commanding 3-0 series lead by falling to the #3 Cowichan Valley Capitals 5-4 in overtime.
Luke Santerno scored first for the Capitals 6:58 into the first. Corey Hoffman and Josh Adkins added second period markers to make it 3-0 after two. Kings’ Carter Turnbull and Cowichan Valley’s Ryan Burton traded goals early in the third.
Powell River’s Liam Lawson, Austin Kamer and Curtis McCarrick scored in the third to force overtime, before Ayden MacDonald’s overtime winner 1:39 into the extra frame gave the Capitals their first win of the series. Jeff Smith made 22 saves for the Kings, while Storm Phaneuf made 32 in a winning effort. Game 4 goes at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
In the second game, Austin Adam’s first goal of the playoffs in overtime propelled the Mainland #1 Chilliwack Warriors to a 4-3 victory and 3-0 series lead over the #4 Coquitlam Express. Both teams were tied after the first and second periods. Dennis Cholowski opened the scoring for the Chiefs, but Cameron Bertsch tied the game up for the Express with 31 seconds to go in the first. Chilliwack responded twice to second period goals by Coquitlam’s Austin McIlmurray, with Jordan Kawaguchi and Jeremy Germain scoring. Lawson Fenton had a busy night, making 41 saves in a losing effort for the Express, while Chiefs’ goaltender Aidan Pelino made 17 saves on just 20 shots. Chilliwack has a chance to complete the sweep, with game four set on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Coquitlam.
Jonathan Desbiens’ two goals were more than enough for the Interior #2 West Kelowna Warriors to take a 2-1 series lead after defeating the #3 Salmon Arm Silverbacks, 4-1. Salmon Arm’s Colton Thibault opened the scoring 6:38 in, but Desbiens tied it up with 3:04 remaining in the first period. The Warriors shut down the Silverbacks’ offense the rest of the way. Kyle Marino and scored halfway mark of the second period before Garrett Forster added another made it 3-1 late in the second. Desbiens scored halfway through the third to give the Warriors their fourth goal and the series lead, with Matthew Greenfield stopping 35 of 36 shots faced. Angus Redmond made 27 saves in the loss for Salmon Arm. Game 4 goes Tuesday at 7 p.m.
