The Vancouver Northwest Giants were coming on strong.
Down 2-1 to the Cariboo Cougars Friday afternoon in Game 1 of their B.C. Hockey Major Midget League semifinal series, an early power play to start the second period put the heat on the Cougars and the Giants came close to tying it a couple times.
The penalty had just expired when Giants sniper Liam Kindree dished the puck to linemate Jakob Fournier. Cougars goalie Marcus Allen made the save on Fournier's quick shot from the slot and the puck dropped to the ice at Allen's feet. Fournier got to the rebound and appeared to have tied the game. The goal light came on but referee Greg Taylor waived it off, saying the whistle had blown before the puck crossed the line.
The Cougars responded the way they've done so often this season, scoring three more goals in the second period and two more in the third to win 7-1 and take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.
They can wrap it up in Game 2 today starting at 3:15 p.m. at Kin 1.
"We knew they were forcing us pretty hard there so we had to get back to our game and we fought back goal-by-goal and really regrouped and that was the key to the win," said Cougars defenceman Jonas Harkins, 16, who had two assists.
"They kind of got caught off-guard and we took it to them. It was a good win and we deserved it."
Mason Richey got the Cougars started just 2:37 into the game, scoring on a rebound that dropped just outside the crease in front of Giants goalie Jesse Makaj. About a minute later, on a Cougars' power play, Devin Sutton cashed in another rebound after pointman Joel Patsey got the puck on goal. The Giants cut the lead in half when they won a face-off and broke into the zone on a quick 2-on-1 entry and Fournier fed the puck to Marcus Van Der Made, who fooled Allen with a backhand deke.
Four minutes after the disallowed goal, Jeremy Gervais gave the Cougars the all-important third goal, tipping in a point shot from Harkins, 8:37 into the second period. The 18-year-old Gervais, the BCHMML's player of the month in February, had a four-point game with a goal and three assists.
"They came out hard in the second and tested us and it was a really good response from us to weather the storm and then we got back to our game and it worked out for us in the second," said Gervais. "We're focusing on defence, I mean, seven goals is enough to win a game, but if we only let one in, we can score two. I think we're starting to play playoff hockey and starting to come together as team so it's fun to watch."
Reid Perepeluk jammed in a loose puck at the side of the Giants' net to score his first of two goals, 15:51 into the second period, and with just 5.4 seconds left before the break, with the Cougars thoroughly dominating the play, Trey Thomas completed a 2-on-1 break with Daine Dubois by firing a high shot behind Makaj to make it 5-1.
Tyler Maser, right after a Cougars' power play, and Perepeluk capped the scoring in the third period.
"Our guys capitalized when they needed to at the right times and put in seven goals and our penalty kill was really good today as well,' said Cougars head coach Trevor Sprague. "We backchecked well, we played hard and were a unit of five and that ended up getting us a couple of goals."
Giants head coach Aaron Wilbur said his team felt cheated of a legitimate goal which would have put them back on even terms in the second period and they couldn't match the Cougars' relentless pushback.
"Frankly, it was a 2-2 game and I don't think anyone in the building outside of the referee could tell you why the goal was disallowed," said Wilbur. "We've got a young group and we were unable to rebound after that and give P.G. credit, they play well and have played well all year. We had a lot of momentum and carried the play at that point and they came right back and made it 3-1.
"We needed to keep the game close in the later stages to have a shot and when it got away from us it's tough when you have a lot of young guys in the lineup."
As effective as they were at putting the puck in the net, the Cougars paid close attention to detail in the defensive zone with forwards blocking shots and defencemen moving the puck quickly with authority when given the chance to clear the zone. The full-strength Cougars took advantage of the fact four Giant forwards - Zach Bolton, Kyle Jennings, Ethan Reilly and captain Jack Graham are out with injuries and made life difficult for the three bantam-aged players taking their places in the lineup.
When the Giants did get to test Allen, the third-year midget goalie was sharp making the saves and controlling his rebounds. He stopped 22 shots as his team outshot the Giants 38-23.
If a third game is needed, it would be played Sunday at Kin 1, starting at 9:45 a.m.
