Photo credit: Garrett James Photography
Salmon Arm Silverbacks – 3
Victoria Grizzlies – 2
Ethan Langenegger continued his strong play in net, making 28 saves, and Luke Mylymok continued his timely scoring in the first round as the Salmon Arm Silverbacks outlasted the Victoria Grizzlies 3-2 in Game 3 to push the Victoria to the brink of elimination.
After scoring the game-winning goal in Games 1 and 2, Mylymok started early in this one, getting the Silverbacks on the board with his third of the postseason under four minutes into the game. Logan Shaw added to the Salmon Arm lead a minute later, but it was Reid Lindsay replying for the Grizzlies and cutting into the lead before the halfway point of the opening frame. Late in the period, Simon Tassy notched his first goal of the playoffs to reestablish the two-goal Silverbacks lead.
Victoria captain Marty Westhaver got his team closer with a goal in the second period, but Langenegger shut the door the rest of the way to earn his third-straight win this playoffs.
Langenegger was named the first star of the game and has a .965 save percentage so far this postseason.
Victoria will hope to avoid the sweep and extend their season in Game 4 tomorrow night.
Surrey Eagles – 3
Chilliwack Chiefs – 2
The Surrey Eagles battled back to beat the Chilliwack Chiefs 3-2 in their first-round series on the strength of a 1:12 sequence early in the second period where they tied the game and took the lead for good with two quick goals. Chilliwack opened the scoring for the third-straight game when captain Nathan Kelly scored his first of the playoffs less than two minutes in, but Brett Bliss answered back with a power-play goal later in the period to tie things up. The lead wouldn’t last for long though as Chilliwack’s Cooper Moore became the third defenceman to score in the period, giving his team a 2-1 edge after one. In the second, it was Carter King and Wyatt Schlaht who scored just over a minute apart and that would be the only scoring in the game as Surrey goalie Thomas Scarfone stopped 16 of 17 in relief to earn the victory. With the win, Surrey has climbed back into the series at 2-1 and will look to even things up tomorrow night in Game 4.
Trail Smoke Eaters – 4
Prince George Spruce Kings – 0
Michael Colella, Owen Ozar and Kent Johnson each had multi-point nights and Logan Terness stopped all 24 shots he faced to earn the shutout as the Trail Smoke Eaters won Game 3 of their first-round series 4-0 over the Prince George Spruce Kings to take a commanding 3-0 series lead. After a scoreless first period, Ozar got Trail on the board a minute into the second before Colella, Philippe Lapointe and Chase Dafoe added on in the third to make it a four-goal margin. Terness’ shutout performance means he’s only allowed two goals through three games in this series and has a .973 save percentage. Trail will have a chance to complete the sweep and move on to the second round tomorrow night in Game 4.
