On the verge of elimination after one game in the B.C. Hockey Major Midget League best-of-three final series, the Cariboo Cougars have seen this movie before.
Now it's up to them to once again try to write the happy ending.
Last year on the same ice surface at Kin 1 the Cougars were hosting the Greater Vancouver Canadians in the league championship series and after losing the first game 3-2 in overtime they stormed back with consecutive wins, 2-0 and 4-0, to claim the provincial title.
Friday's series-opener against the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds wasn't close, the T-birds won 5-2. But it's a new day today and the only score that matters now is 1-0, the series deficit the Cougars are facing heading into Game 2 tonight at 7:15 p.m.
A Cougar win would force a deciding Game 3 Sunday at 10:15 a.m. at Kin 1. The BCHMML champions will host the winner to host the Pacific regional best-of-three playoff series next weekend for the right to play in the Telus Cup national championship, April 23-29 in Sudbury, Ont.
In Friday's opener, the T-birds took a 2-0 lead after one period on goals from Dylan Stoltz and Jake Mulder. Brett Fudger cut the lead in half 2:21 into the second period but Fraser Valley responded with two goals from playoff scoring leader Matthew Konrad and Will Don-Kenney to increase the gap to 5-1. Gage Goncalves had three assists.
Craig MacDonald scored for the Cougars, the only goal of the third period.
Marcus Allen took the loss, making his return to action in the Cariboo nets after missing Game 2 of the semifinal round with a knee injury. Dawson Pelletier recorded the victory for Fraser Valley.
