Ethan Leyh opened the scoring on the power play and notched the winner late in the third, giving the Langley Rivermen a 5-4 road win over the No. 1-seed Chilliwack Chiefs.
Leyh’s opener was followed 1:34 later by Langley’s Tanner Versluis to give the visitors a two-goal lead but the Chiefs rallied with markers from Jacques Bouquot and Skyler Brind’Amour to even it after 20 minutes. Ethan Bowen and Clark Nelson scored in the second for Chilliwack, sandwiching another Versluis tally to make it 4-3 Chiefs heading to the third.
In the final frame, Langley managed to get the equalizer from Mark Gallant with just under five minutes to go and Leyh followed with the winner at 18:11. Braedon Fleming made 37 saves in the win. Game 2 of the series goes Saturday in Chilliwack.
A flurry of three goals in the second period in the span of 2:53 paved the way for the Salmon Arm Silverbacks in a 5-3 road win over the Vernon Vipers. Jonathan Krahn and Andy Stevens had the visitors up 2-0 after one and Jack Sampson’s goal early in the second made it a three-goal edge before Jesse Lansdell got the Vipers on the board. John Little score just 20 seconds after Lansdell and Trevor Adams added the fifth ‘Backs goal just 63 seconds later. Jagger Williamson scored late in the second and again in the third for Vernon but that’s as close as they’d come. Game 2 goes Saturday at 6 p.m. in Vernon.
Levi Glasman scored the opener and set up the other two goals as the host Powell River Kings edged the Nanaimo Clippers 3-2. Glasman scored at 3:22 of the first and Nanaimo tied it in the second on a Hunor Torzsok goal. But Glasman set up Ben Berard on the man advantage to give the Kings the lead once again. Sammy Steele evened things up on a goal at 12:24 of the second but that would be all the offence for the Clips on the night. Mitchell Williams’ goal from Glasman and Ethan Kimball was the winner at 6:07 of the third. Game 2 goes Saturday at 5 p.m. in Powell River.
Matthew Kopperud scored a pair, including the winner, to lead the Merritt Centennials to a 4-2 win over the visiting Trail Smoke Eaters. Trail’s Kent Johnson scored the only goal of the first period but Kopperud evened things just 22 seconds into the second. Michael Van Unen followed on the power play and Kopperud’s second of the night, the winner, came at 19:08 of the middle frame. Tyler Ghirardosi had the final Trail goal in the waning seconds of the second but Merritt’s Nick Granowicz sealed the deal with a goal late in the third. Game 2 goes Saturday at 7 p.m. in Merritt.
A goal each period, with three different players hitting the scoresheet, was the recipe for success for the Prince George Spruce Kings in a 3-1 home win over the Coquitlam Express. Ben Poisson got things going for PG on the power play in the first and after Connor Gregga tied it early in the second, Layton Ahac scored the winner at 5:42 of the middle frame. Dustin Manz added a late goal for the Spruce Kings. Game 2 goes 7 p.m. Saturday in Prince George.
The Victoria Grizzlies poured 53 shots on the Alberni Valley net and got two goals apiece from Carter Berger and Alexander Campbell in an 8-3 home win over the Bulldogs to open their series. Nico Somerville and Campbell gave the Grizz a 2-0 lead before Mitch Deelstra replied for the Bulldogs. Berger’s goal in the second was the winner. Cameron Thompson, Berger and Kenny Johnson added in the middle frame to make it 6-1 after two. Cole Demers took over for John Hawthorne in the Alberni Valley Crease but faced 14 more shots with Campbell and Marty Westhaver scoring. Josh Zary and Keaton Mastrodonato had power-play goals for the Bulldogs in the final frame. Game 2 goes Saturday at 7 p.m. in Victoria.
