Cape Breton West Blackstone Knights forward Matt Raike takes a shot on Glace Bay Miners goaltender Hunter Chenhall during their Nova Scotia Senior A Hockey League playoff series. Game three of the best-of-five series goes this Friday, 8 p.m., at the Dr. Bernie MacLean Cultural and Recreation Centre in Inverness.
-by Bill Dunphy
The Cape Breton West Blackstone Knights aim to make home ice count this Friday when they resume their Nova Scotia Senior A Hockey League playoff series in Inverness.
The best-of-five series is knotted 1-1 with both the Knights and Glace Bay Miners winning on the road.
The opener was played at the Al MacInnis Sports Centre on Friday. After two scoreless periods, all hell broke loose in the third as Glace Bay scored 44 seconds in and then added another at 8:45 for a 2-0 lead.
Twenty seconds later and Craig Ryan put the Knights on the board, banking a shot off Miners goaltender Hunter Chenhall’s skate. Travis King and Drew MacDonald assisted on the goal.
However, the Miners continued to have their way with the Knights defence, scoring two more in the space of a minute-and-a-half to go up 4-1 at 12:41 of the third.
The Knights pushed back in the final minutes, beginning with defenceman Justin Taylor scoring at 13:39 on a play with Randon MacKinnon.
And Chad Wilson made it a one-goal game at 17:54, assisted by Jason Johnson and Stephen Fox.
Shots were 50-41 in favour of the Knights, with Kenzie MacPhail taking the loss in goal.
MacPhail rebounded with the win in game two on Saturday night at the Miners Forum in Glace Bay, making 36 saves in a 3-2 win for the Knights.
The first period was scoreless and the Miners took the lead at 1:38 of the second period.
The Knights tied it with a shorthanded goal by Johnson at 8:18 on a play with Ryan.
The 1-1 tied carried over into the third period where Ryan scored at 13:24, assisted by Matthew MacNeil and MacKinnon.
King scored an insurance goal at 14:59 on a play initiated by MacPhail and a pass from Matthew Raike.
The insurance policy paid off with the Miners scoring at 18:50 but that would be it for scoring with Knights winning 3-2.
Knights coach Kyle Gillies said an almost three-week layoff before Friday’s first game didn’t do them any favours.
“We didn’t get rolling until the third period but the damage was done. We’re in a situation now where the teams are putting full rosters together and the players are taking it more seriously. You can throw out those regular-season scores – there’s no taking anyone lightly,” he said.
He noted that Miners goaltender Chenhall “came out of nowhere” and the Knights will be adjusting their approach with him.
“We’ll adjust a little bit, maybe get some more traffic in front of him. We may not beat him on the first shot, but it’s the second and third shots we need.”
Gillies also noted that their powerplay has to get better.
“We’re 0-for-8 with the man advantage, and for the talent we have, there’s no excuse for it. I have ice time booked for Thursday and we will definitely be working on our powerplay.”
He said everyone’s up for playing in Inverness on Friday. Game time is 8 p.m. at the Dr. Bernie MacLean Cultural and Recreation Centre.
“Sandy (Smith) will start Friday’s game, by his own request,” said Gillies. “The compete level of every team has gone up and the fans won’t be disappointed. Our guys are rolling, ready to go, and looking forward to it.”
Game four of the series goes back to Glace Bay on Saturday, and if necessary, game five would be played on Sunday, 6 p.m., at the Al MacInnis Sports Centre.