After losing 9-1 the night before, the Thompson Blazers were in no mood for another blowout.
Knowing their B.C. Hockey Major Midget League season was on the line, they tried to cap that well and gave the Cariboo Cougars all they could handle in the late stages of Saturday’s quarterfinal playoff game at Kin 1.
But the Cougars held off a late-game power-play push by the Blazers and wrapped up the best-of-three series with a 2-1 victory.
The Cougars will move on to the semifinal round against the Vancouver Northeast Chiefs, the No. 8 seed, who pulled off a huge upset Sunday when they defeated the No. 1-ranked Valley West Hawks 3-2 in the third and deciding game in Langley.
Goals by Brennan Malgunas, on a first-period power play, and Hunter Floris, in the second period, put the Cougars ahead 2-0. Reagan Milburn potted one for the Blazers on the power play 7:20 into the third period, which set the stage for a nail-biting finish.
“We expected a tighter game, we knew they would adjust after a lopsided win (Friday) night,” said Cougars head coach Tyler Brough. “Overall I was really happy. It was a penalty-filled game, back and forth, but our guys pulled through at the end and we got the win.”
The Blazers had the Cougars under siege playing with a 6-on-4 advantage with goalie Ethan Langenegger on the bench. They hit the goalpost once and forced Marcus Allen to make a showstopping save in the dying seconds.
“Our top guys were really good (Saturday),” said Brough. “Floris had a big game, (Craig) MacDonald had a big game and (Malgunas) had a nice individual effort (to set up Floris’s goal). It was just a straight forecheck, he implemented the pressure and outmanned the guy and got the puck back on his stick in front of the net and then (Floris) beat him in tight.
“It’s nice to see your leaders be leaders when we need them.”
At one point the Cougars had a 28-7 shot advantage Saturday, but the Blazers hung around and made Allen work for the win.
“They pushed at the end, which we expected,” said Brough. “It’s kind of natural when you’re up a game and up one goal in the deciding game to kind of sit back. As much as we could tell them not to, we did sit back a bit too much and they got some scoring opportunities and Marcus was big for us. He’s always been big for us, he steps up for the big games.”
The Chiefs beat the Hawks 4-3 on Friday and lost the second game 4-2 on Saturday. In the history of the league, it’s the first time an eighth seed has defeated the top seed in a playoff series. In a 40-game season, the Hawks (31-6-2-1) finished atop the standings, two points ahead of the second-place Cougars (30-7-3-0) and 34 points ahead of the Chiefs (14-20-3-3).
The Chiefs and Cougars play Game 1 of their semifinal series Friday at 6 p.m. at Kin 1. Game 2 is 4 p.m. on Saturday, with Game 3, if needed, Sunday at 10 a.m.
