The sun will indeed rise on another hockey game day for the Cariboo Cougars.
They pushed the BC Elite Hockey League U18 championship to the limit with a 4-2 win Saturday over the Okanagan Rockets at Kin 1 that tied the best-of-three series, forcing a game for all the marbles Sunday at 10:45 a.m.
Meanwhile, at the U18 female championship in Coquitlam, there was no happy ending for the Northern Capitals, who lost 4-3 to the Greater Vancouver Comets in the best-of-three final Saturday to claim the provincial triple-A title.
At Kin 1, Riley Lettington delivered the game-winning strike 9:25 into the third period and the Rockets came on strong, especially on their power-play chances, but the Cougars survived that tense final 10 minutes, punctuated by an empty-netter from Rylan Bissett.
Jaxon Larmand and Nicholas Gordon were the other snipers for Cariboo.
Dion Schraeder and Brayden Westman scored for Okanagan.
Cougars goalie Andrik Lygas made 27 saves to improve his playoff record to 5-0.
After a disappointing 4-2 loss to the Rockets in Game 1 Friday, the Cougars came out looking like the team that won the league’s regular season, and they rewarded with a 1-0 lead after the first period.
Larmand converted the only power-play goal of the game, 18:48 into the period. The 16-year-old Prince George minor hockey product got the pass in the slot and double-clutched with a toe drag to change the shooting angle just enough to fool goalie Finn McKiernan with a low wrister.
Schraeder, who finished second in the league scoring race, tied it up with a quick whip from the slot six minutes into the second period and the Cougars regained the lead three minutes later on a 2-on-1 pass from Grady Gustafson to Gordon.
Blake Collison did most of the work on Lettington’s goal to make it 3-1. The Terrace product led the rush and showed quick feet dragging the puck into the slot to avoid his check while he fed a backhand pass to Gordon, who nailed the net with a shot from the side.
Westman scored a pretty goal for the Rockets, going wide across the crease as he tucked it in on his forehand, and that took the crowd of about 800 mostly Cougar supporters out of their comfort zone. But with Lygas standing tall, the Cougars withstood a determined comeback try.
The speedy Rockets are the youngest team in the division, with just six 2007-born players on their 19-man roster and the Cougars came out willing to pay the price with their physical play, finishing checks at every opportunity. When they did get into penalty trouble, their killers bailed them out.
“Last night we weren’t on the forecheck nearly hard enough and today we wore their D down, and that’s a big reason why we had success today,” said Larmand. “Our PK has been good for us all year and it was huge for us today, especially when they got those late power plays.”
The Rockets went 0-for-7 on the power play. The Cougars scored on one of their four manpower advantages.
Lygas was at his best while there were Cougars in the penalty box, especially in the third period when the Cougars took back-to-back minors, giving the Rockets a brief two-man advantage. Hudson Getzlaf had the best chance but Lygas was ready for it.
“Both our goalies have been unbelievable all year keeping us in games and he made huge saves when we needed them, that was a huge bounce-back win tonight,” said Larmand. “The biggest difference is we’re a lot stronger than them. They may be faster but when we finish our checks they can’t play with us.”
The Cougars outshot the Rockets 33-29.
The winner Sunday will represent BC at the Pacific regional U18 championship in either Calgary or Edmonton. That best-of-three series starts April 4.
The winner of that advances to the Telus Cup national tournament in Chilliwack, April 21-27.
Northern Capitals' overtime effort falls short
In the female championship, Vancouver Comets forward Carolyn Koo scored her second goal of the game 12:21 into overtime to end the Capitals’ season. The Comets took Game 1 on Friday 1-0 and swept the best-of-three final 2-0.
Finley Elliott and Christian Lai also scored for Vancouver. Maddy Niesh scored two goals and Staysha Hiebert also found the net for the Capitals. Hiebert’s power-play goal 18:05 into the second period tied the game 3-3 and it stayed that win until Koo connected in OT.
Payton Planetta made 29 saves in goal for the Caps. Alexandra Johnston blocked 18 shots in the Comet nets.
The Comets will host the Pacific regional playoff for the right to play in the Esso Cup national championship, April 20-26 in Lloydminster, Alta.
