The Victoria Grizzlies used four consecutive power play goals to come from behind and defeat the Powell River Kings 5-2, claiming a 3-1 series lead on the league's top-ranked club.
Dustin Johnson continued his production with his eighth of the playoffs to open the scoring near the midway point of the first. But the Kings responded early in the second getting a pair of goals less than two minutes apart from Cohen Adair and Carter Shinkaruk.
But a string of Kings penalties in the second following Shinkaruk's goal gave momentum back to the Bears and they got power play goals from Taylor Pernerowski and David Morley to go up one heading into the third.
A Steven Schmidt penalty for roughing at the 20-minute mark of the second put Victoria on the power play again to start the third and they capitalized with a goal from Justin Fillion. Morley's second man-advantage goal of the night earned him 1st Star and sealed it for the Grizzlies.
In Salmon Arm, the Penticton Vees stayed alive with a 4-3 win over the SilverBacks and trail the series 3-1. Penticton led 2-1 after one on goals by Garrett Milan and Carter Rigby while Dustin Cave replied for the Gorillas. The Vees claimed a commanding lead in the second getting goals from Joey Holka and Michael Betz. Salmon Arm didn't roll over, getting goals from Brett Knowles and David Killip in the third to get within one but no closer.
In Westside, the Vernon Vipers tied their series 2-2 by earning a 5-2 win over the Warriors. The Snakes built a 3-0 lead by the midway point of the second on goals by Colton Sparrow, Aaron Hadley and Patrick McGillis. Quinn Gould replied for the Warriors but Malcolm Lyles restored Vernon's three-goal lead going into the third. Westside's Matthew Maher and Vernon's Bryce Kakoske traded power-play goals in the third.
These teams all play Game 5 contests on Monday.
