One more win.
That's all the West Kellwood Warriors need to bring home their first B.C. Hockey League championship.
They've got the Chilliwack Chiefs down three games to one in the best-of-seven Fred Page Cup championship series.
Jake LeBrun, the Warriors' hero in Game 3 after he tipped in a point shot for the winner, 16:28 into overtime, says his team faces its toughest test of the playoffs tonight in Chilliwack, trying to eliminate the Chiefs. All four games in the series, have been decided by two goals or less and LeBrun expects the Chiefs will be like a pack of snarling wolverines, trying to extend the series to seven games.
"Chilliwack is a tough team and they will come out and give us their best so hopefully we can get a win there," said LeBrun, a native of Prince George who was captain of the Spruce Kings when he got traded in January to the Warriors.
"It's a whole different ball game when a team is facing elimination."
Before LeBrun scored the biggest goal of his hockey career Tuesday, the teams traded some great chances in the overtime session. If not for some great goaltending from Matthew Greenfield, who stopped 34 of 36 shots, the series could just as easily be tied.
"The chances were fairly even for both teams and both goalies were playing really well, it was just a tight defensive game,' said LeBrun. "It definitely brings it out in you when you're in playoffs and going for a championship, it forces everybody to play their best and I think both teams are playing really well. I've never had more fun in my life."
The Warriors won 3-2 in Game 1 in Chilliwack and took the second game 2-0. The Chiefs posted a 3-1 win in Game 3 on Monday.
In Tuesday's game, Liam Blackburn centred a line with Garrett Forster at left wing and LeBrun on the right side LeBrun normally slots in on the Warriors' checking line but got bumped up to second-line duty when Quinn Foreman suffered a concussion in Game 2.
"It was a good bounce-back game for us, we came out a lot better and we a little were more physical and it was a battle right to the end," said the Prince George-born-and-bred Blackburn. "When Chilliwack scored in the third period (to tie it 2-2) I think both teams knew it was going to OT, it was too close for a team to win it in regulation."
Blackburn assisted on Rylan Yaremko's power-play goal in the first period Tuesday. He now has 22 points in 22 playoff games, just one point behind league-leaders Jordan Kawaguchi of Chilliwack and Sheldon Rempal of Nanaimo.
Not long before LeBrun scored, Greenfield made a save on Kawaguchi on a 2-on-1 chance that Blackburn still can't believe happened. Greenfield did his best Marc-Andre Fleury flopping fish imitation, moving to the opposite side of the crease as he fell to the ice to extend his glove and block Kawaguchi's shot.
The Warriors now sport a 14-8 playoff record. They started with a 4-2 series win in the opening round against Salmon Arm, then pulled off a stunning five-game upset of the Penticton Vees, who went 50-7-0-1 in the regular season and finished 22 points ahead of the Warriors (38-17-2-1). In the third-round tournament involving the three division champions, the Warriors beat the Nanaimo Clippers in the deciding game to qualify for the final.
Since the franchise moved to West Kellwood from Langley in 2006, the Warriors have never before made it this deep into the playoffs. In 1996, when the team was known as the Langley Thunder, it reached the league final, losing in a five-game series to Vernon.
Neither Blackburn, 19, nor LeBrun, 20, have played this late into spring in their hockey careers.
"I've never gotten out of the first round before this," said Blackburn. "This is definitely one of the favourite seasons I will probably ever have. The quicker we end it the better for us."
If Chilliwack wins tonight, Game 6 would be played Saturday in West Kellwood, with a seventh game, if needed, to be played Sunday in Chilliwack. The Warriors have won seven of 11 home games in the playoffs but aren't afraid to play the Chiefs at Prospera Place. Three of the Warriors' four playoff wins this season were in Chilliwack.
The series winner advances to the five-team Crescent Point Energy Western Canada Cup in Estevan, Sask, April 30-May 8. The two finalists from that tournament move on to the RBC Cup national championship in Lloydminster, Sask., May 14-22.
