The BCHL Playoffs are only one game in and there has already been a huge upset.
Pierce Diamond stopped 40 of 41 shots and Niko Esposito-Selivanov had two goals and two assists as the Cowichan Valley Capitals beat the Penticton Vees 4-1 in Game 1 of their Interior Division playoff matchup.
Capitals forward Paul Selleck opened the scoring with five minutes to go in the first period to give his team the lead after one, but Eric Linell replied early in the second to even the game 1-1. Three minutes later, Esposito-Selivanov took a long stretch pass from David Melaragni and buried top corner to give Cowichan the lead. Shortly after, Dmitri Mikrogiannakis’ long shot from the point found the back of the net for a 3-1 lead.
Penticton put on the pressure in third period, throwing 16 shots at the net and getting two chances on the power play, but Diamond shut the door. Esposito-Selivanov potted an empty netter with a minute to go to seal the win for the Caps.
Penticton, the number-one seed in the Interior Division, will look to regain home-ice advantage when the series resumes on Saturday, while Cowichan, the crossover seed, will hope to take a commanding 2-0 series lead.
