Grady Gustafson got down on one knee in anticipation, hoping the puck would catch the full force of his swinging hockey stick and catapult off the blade.
That’s exactly what happened for the 17-year-old from Williams Lake. Gustsfson's power-play shot from deep-slot range found the open side of the net behind Vancouver North West Hawks goalie Matthew Bowman, 13:52 into the third overtime period, to seal the deal for the Cariboo Cougars.
Their 4-3 win Friday at Kin 1 in Game 1 of their best-of-three BC Elite Hockey League triple-A semifinal series forces the Hawks into a must-win situation when the series resumes Saturday at 3 p.m.
“We battled right through to the end, we got some saves when we needed them and we finished a few great plays,” said Cougars head coach Tyler Brough. “Now we push to end this series tomorrow.”
Jack Tidsbury (while shorthanded), Ryan Richter and Rylan Bissett also scored for the Cougars, who outshot the Hawks 49-38.
Jaxson Dikur made 35 saves in goal for Cariboo.
Daniel Tong, Luke Curtin and Zenon Halliday were goalscorers for Vancouver, all in the second period, as the visitors took a 3-2 lead into the third period.
Bissett, the Cougars’ leading scorer in the regular season, notched the tying goal with 4:47 left in the third period. He was standing in front to knock the puck in after Gustafson pivoted with the puck out of the corner and fed a perfect pass to his linemate.
If the Hawks win Saturday there will be a third and deciding game starting Sunday at 9 a.m. at Kin 1.
The series winner will move on to the league final, which the Cougars would host next weekend having wrapped up the regular season crown with a 26-6-3-1 record. They finished 17 points ahead of the fourth-place Hawks (16-13-3-4).
The Kelowna Rockets drew first blood in the other 18U semifinal, beating the Valley West Giants 6-0. Valley West (25-10-0-1) finished second in the league, six points ahead of the third-place Rockets (21-11-2-1).
Meanwhile, in the triple-A U18 female playoffs in Langley, the Northern Capitals of Prince George defeated the Fraser Valley Rush 1-0 in the opener of their best-of-three semifinal series Friday.
Maddy Niesh scored the game’s only goal, 15:38 into the second period.
Peyton Planetta pitched the shutout. The shot count was not available on the scoresheet posted on the league website.
The Capitals, coached by Hayden-James Berra, finished third in the regular season with a 16-15-0-1 record, three points back of the second-place Rush (16-12-1-3).
Game 2 is set for noon in Langley. If Game 3 is necessary it would be played Sunday starting at 9:30 a.m.
In the other U18 female semifinal series opener Friday, the Greater Vancouver Comets edged the Thompson-Okanagan Lakers 3-2.
That series resumes Saturday at 10 a.m. in Coquitlam, with Game 3, if needed, Sunday at 9:45 a.m.
The Comets (28-2-2-0) topped the league standings, 30 points ahead of the fourth-place Lakers (11-15-3-3).
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