The Quesnel Millionaires continued to set new high-water marks during an impressive season under new ownership, advancing to the Interior Conference semi-finals with an impressive 6-1 home ice victory over the Salmon Arm SilverBacks.
Just days ago, the Millionaires seemed to be fighting an uphill battle after back-to-back road losses that had knotted the series at 2-2. But a decisive 8-1 win on the road in Game 5 seemed to change the tide, and Quesnel received two goals apiece from Darick Ste-Marie and Joshua Desmarais on Friday to clinch a second round match-up against the Vernon Vipers.
Desmarais opened the scoring at the 6:18 mark of the first period, and the Mills had taken a 3-0 lead by early in the second period. Christopher Hoe brought the visitors back within a pair for a brief spell in the middle frame, but a pair of strikes from Ste-Marie sandwiched a Trever Hertz effort to salt away any chance of a Salmon Arm comeback.
Netminder Kirby Halcrow contributed a big effort between the pipes, turning aside 39 shots on a night where his team was outshot despite the lopsided score. SilverBacks' starter Tony Ierfino made 32 saves in the loss.
The Millionaires will begin their second round series against the defending National Champions on Tuesday at the Wesbild Centre in Vernon.
