There will be another game in the BC Elite Hockey League U18 semifinal playoff series.
The Vancouver North West Hawks wiped out that uncertainty when they defeated the host Cariboo Cougars 3-2 Saturday afternoon at Kin1.
Matthew Sutherland snapped a 2-2 deadlock when he connected on a left-wing pass into the slot from linemate Luke Curtin and tapped the puck through the legs of Cariboo goalie Jaxson Dikur.
That came just shy of the midway mark of the third period. The Cougars had their chances to get back on even terms but Hawks goalie Matthew Bowman was equal to the task at every instance. He stood his ground and came up with a huge save on Rylan Bissett with four minutes left after the Cougar forward stole the puck deep in Hawks territory.
Bowman continued to look sharp in the crease and saved the game for Vancouver when Beau Murray followed up and Ryan Richter’s rush and rifled a shot from point-blank range that Bowman blocked with 14 seconds left.
He stopped all 13 shots the Cougars managed in the third period on his way to game total of 29 saves.
The Hawks’ win evens the best-of-three series 1-1, with Game 3 set for 9 a.m. at Kin 1.
All of the other goals in Saturday’s game happened in the first period.
Cooper Wilson and Luke Pilkington scored for the Hawks, while Riley Lettington and Richter were the Cariboo marksmen.
The Cougars won Game 1 Friday night in dramatic fashion when captain Grady Gustafson scored the gamewinner in 4-3 decision 13 minutes into the third overtime period.
The Cougars were the BCEHL U18 regular season champions, locking up first place with a 26-6-3-1 record,17 points ahead of the fourth-place Hawks (16-13-3-4).
In the other U18 semifinal, the Valley West Hawks will try to even up that series in Game 2 tonight in Surrey against the Okanagan Lakers. The Lakers won 6-0 in Game 1.
Meanwhile, at the female U18 triple-A playoffs in Langley, the Northern Capitals of Prince George booked themselves a spot in the BCEHL final with a come-from-behind 4-3 overtime win Saturday over the Fraser Valley Rush to complete the sweep of the best-of-three affair
Maddy Niesh, who had the only goal Friday in a 1-0 Capitals’ win in Game 1, was the overtime hero on Saturday, scoring the series winner 7:51 into extra time.
The Capital trailed 3-1 at the midway mark of the third period but got goals from Breanne Hunter and Nicole Bateman 41 seconds apart, just past the 13th minute of the period, to tie it up.
Ayton Panetta stopped 24 of 27 shots to pick up her second win of the playoffs in goal for the Capitals, who were outshot 27-26.
The Caps will face the Greater Vancouver Comets in the best-of-three championship series that starts next Friday in Coquitlam. The Comets beat the Thomson-Okanagan Lakers 3-1 Saturday to win that semifinal series 2-0. They beat the Lakers 3-2 in Game 1 on Friday.
The Comets (28-2-2-0) won the 32-game regular season title, finishing 25 points ahead of the third-place Capitals (16-15-0-1).
