The long awaited Memorial Cup matchup between the host Kamloops Blazers and WHL-champion Seattle Thunderbirds happens tonight (6 p.m. PT) and much is at stake.
The winner advances to the semifinal playoff on Friday (7 p.m.), while the loser will play the Peterborough Petes in a Thursday (6 p.m.) tiebreaker. The Petes (1-2) earned that lifeline Tuesday when they beat the previously undefeated Quebec Remparts 4-2.
Quebec (2-1) has already clinched a spot in Sunday’s final (4 p.m. PT), after reeling off consecutive wins over the Blazers (8-3 on Friday) and the Thunderbirds (3-1 on Monday). Both Kamloops and Seattle sport 1-1- records.
Prince George native Nico Myatovic and the T-birds will try to pick up where they left off in the WHL playoffs on May 8, when they beat the Blazers 4-2 in the deciding game of a six-game third-round series.
Myatovic, who had two assists in Saturday’s 6-3 win over the Petes, plays right wing on Seattle's checking line and has been workhorse in the two Memorial Cup games as one of the penalty-killing forwards on the top shorthanded unit.
The T-birds have the best record in the four-team tournament while playing a man short, having allowed just one power-play goal in five opportunities.
The T-birds’ power play has yet to score in the Memorial Cup, going 0-4 so far, after cruising through the WHL playoffs on a 17-for-57 clip (29.8 per cent). Led by Logan Stankoven, who has eight points to lead the Memorial Cup scoring race, the Blazers have found their stride with the extra skater, scoring on six of their 14 opportunities.
All games are televised live on TSN.
