Teck Cup Round 2 Game 7 recaps

Trystan Self made 36 saves, and Christian Mealey’s fifth of the Teck Cup championships gave the Dynamiters a 1-0 victory against the Ghostriders. With the victory, the Dynamiters erased a 3-0 Ghostriders lead to win the Eddie Mountain Division championship and advance to the Kootenay Conference Final.

Kaleb Percival scored the series-clinching goal, beating Thunder Cats goalie Parker Forrest high glove in overtime at 11:48 to give the Nitehawks a 3-2 victory. Forrest finished with 24 saves. The Nitehawks came from behind 3-1 in the series to win the Neil Murdoch Division championship and punched their ticket to the Kootenay Conference Final. Luke Chakrabarti and Blake Anderson each had a goal and an assist for the Thunder Cats. Spencer Dixon-Reusz and Nathan Dominici had given the Nitehawks a 2-1 lead. Connor Stojan stopped 31 of 33 shots for the Nitehawks.

Tristan Weill scored his second goal of the Teck Cup championships and added two assists to lead the Dynamiters to a 3-2 victory against the Ghostriders, forcing a Game 7 back in Kimberley on Monday. Weill tied the game at one with just over six minutes remaining in the first period, then helped set up Jake Watson’s winner five minutes into the third period to give the Dynamiters a 3-1 lead. Trystan Self stopped 28 of 30 shots for the Dynamiters. Jarod Sigouin and Taylor Haggerty scored for the Ghostriders. Aiden Kruhlak made 35 saves.

Gavin Tritt led the Nitehawks with two assists, giving his team a 2-0 lead against the Thunder Cats in what would be a 5-1 win, forcing a seventh game in Beaver Valley on Monday. Tritt set up Austin McKenzie for the eventual winner, for his second goal of the playoffs. Lucas Gartner scored the insurance goal, while Gabriel Chanut, Austin McLean and Joel Smyth also scored. Connor Stojan stopped 34 shots for the win, giving up a goal to Stavros Koutsantonis, with his fourth for a 2-1 Nitehawks lead.

Campbell McLean had a big night for the Dynamiters with two goals, including the winner, and an assist in a 4-2 victory over the Ghostriders. After the Ghosriders erased a 2-0 Dynamiters lead with goals by Ethan MacDuff and Kort Kisinger, McLean put the Dynamiters back ahead and then secured the win with an empty-net goal. Christian Mealey had a goal and assist for the Dynamiters and Trystan Self made 26 saves. Aiden Kruhlak stopped 28 of 32 for the Ghostriders.

Connor Stojan had another solid performance in goal for the Nitehawks, stopping 41 shots in 4-0 victory against the Thunder Cats to force Game 6 in Creston Valley. The Nitehawks had a strong start on home ice with three goals on 16 shots in the first period by Boris Hristov, Joel Smyth and Eithan Grishin. Austin McKenzie added a fourth goal with his first of the Teck Cup championships in the third period. The Nitehawks went 1-for-5 on the power-play, while killing off five Thunder Cats power-plays. Jacob Burnside was replaced by Parker Forrest after allowing three goals and 12 shots. Forrest stopped 28 of 29.

Grady Sterling-Ponech’s first goal of the playoffs proved to be the series clincher for the Posse in a 4-1 win over the Knights. Goalie Peyton Trzaska stopped 32 of 33 shots, including 13 in the opening period. The Posse opened the scoring on a Lucas Sadownyk goal in the final five minutes of the first period, then Collin Kozijn scored the lone Knights goal midway through the second. The Posse secured the win with empty net goals by Kassius Kler and Anmol Garcha.

With 1:54 remaining in triple overtime, Stavros Koutsantonis buried a rebound on the power-play to lead the Thunder Cats past the Nitehawks 6-5. With the victory, the Thunder Cats are a win away from advancing to the Kootenay Conference Final. Luke Chakrabarti and Blake Anderson assisted on the winner. Nitehawks goalie Connor Stojan finished with 90 saves, 20 in the second period and overtime period two. Luke Chakrabarti led the Thunder Cats with two goals and three points. Nikolai Morrison and Anderson each had two assists. Along with his OT winner, Koutsantonis assisted on Reece Nelson’s goal to make it 4-2 for the Thunder Cats. Nathan Dominici, Joel Smyth and Kaleb Percival each had a goal and an assist. Jacob Burnside stopped 64 of 69 shots for the win.

Campbell McLean scored twice, including the winner, as the Dynamiters handed the Ghostriders an 8-2 loss to avoid elimination in the Teck Cup championships. McLean had two goals and three assists, while Christian Mealey had three goals and three assists. The Dynamiters power-play went 4-for-5 with three in the third period by Cam Reid, Mealey and McLean to secure the victory. Trystan Self made 32 saves for the win as Kort Kisinger beat him to open the scoring and Ethan MacDuff scored his fifth of the playoffs late in the third period.

The Thunder Cats erased a 2-0 Nitehawks lead to win 3-2, thanks to goals by Luke Chakrabarti, with his seventh and eighth of the playoffs, and Blake Anderson with his ninth. After Ollie Clement and Joel Smyth scored for the Nitehawks, Chakrabarti ignited the comeback with five minutes remaining in the second period. The Thunder Cats top point producer then tied the game at two 45 seconds into the third period. Anderson scored the winner five minutes later. Jacob Burnside stopped 22 of 24 shots for the win, while Connor Stojan stopped 33 of 36 shots.

Kevin-Thomas Walters led the Knights past the Posse with two goals and three assists in a 7-2 win to avoid elimination. Walters, and Matthew Johnston, who finished with four assists, set up the 2-2 goal by Devin Jameson that led the turnaround in their win. Walters’ first goal was the winner. Jameson finished with three goals and four points, as the trio combined for 13 points. Josh Hager stopped 38 of 40 shots in the Knights net, giving up goals to Brayden Bablitz and Dayton Nelson, who had given the Posse a 2-1 lead that lasted six minutes.

Jake Wallace scored twice, including the overtime winner 1:19 into the extra frame, to give the defending KIJHL champion Grizzlies a 2-1 victory against the Eagles. There was no scoring in the first two periods, then Reid Tisdale put the Eagles ahead on the power-play. However, that lead lasted about four minutes when Wallace scored his fifth to tie the game. Owen Albers stopped 30 of 31 shots for the Grizzlies, for his second win of the playoffs.

Liam Fitzgerald led the Ghostriders with two goals and an assist in a 4-1 win over the Dynamiters that puts them one win away from advancing to the Kootenay Conference Final. Goalie Aiden Kruhlak stopped 29 of 30 shots for the win. Fitzgerald opened the scoring with a short-handed goal, his fourth of the Teck Cup championships, then assisted on the winning goal to give the Ghostriders a 2-0 lead. Also scoring for the Ghostriders were Taylor Haggerty and Eli Neilsen. The Ghostriders scored twice on the power-play and the short-handed tally to open the game. Kade Leskosky scored the lone goal for the Dynamiters, on the power-play. Matt Fleet stopped 32 of 36 shots.

Ty Russell scored twice, his second and third of the playoffs, including the winner in a 7-3 Posse victory over the Knights to move a win from advancing to the Okanagan Conference Final. Dayton Nelson also scored twice, and Isaac Thomas had two assists. Peyton Trzaska stopped 30 of 33 shots as Collin Kozijn, Brodie Pearson and Ethan O’Rourke of the Knights scored on him.

Luke Aston was the double overtime hero for the Grizzlies as they defeated the Eagles 5-4 at the midway mark of the period. It’s Aston’s third goal of the playoffs. The Grizzlies are now a win away from advancing to the Okanagan Conference Final. Brady Augot and David Coyle each had two assists and Jozef Kuchalso stopped 21 shots for the Grizzlies. Nicholas Hughes led the Eagles with three points, while Colton Schmidt had two. Carter Bettenson’s third goal of the playoffs for the Grizzlies forced the game into overtime.

Ethan MacDuff scored a pair of goals and added an assist as the Ghostriders defeated the Dynamiters 5-3. MacDuff now has four playoff goals and his third was the winner. MacDuff assisted on Jarod Sigouin’s third goal, scored on the power-play, to give the Ghostriders a 1-0 lead. Lucas Desjarlais had a goal and an assist for the Ghostriders, while Aiden Kruhlak stopped 27 shots for the win. Trystan Self stopped 25 shots in his return to the Kimberley net. Duncan Paradis had two assists for the Dynamiters and Cash Regan had a goal and an assist.

Ollie Clement scored his fourth and fifth of the playoffs to help the Nitehawks defeat the Thunder Cats 4-1. Clement’s fourth goal gave the Nitehawks a 2-0 lead, while Cooper Ross and Boris Hristov scored the other Nitehawks goals. Connor Stojan made 30 saves in the win. The Nitehawks went 3-for-5 on the power-play. Nikolai Morrison scored the lone Thunder Cats goal.

Brennan Watterson’s third playoff goal came on the power-play to give the Posse a 1-0 lead en route to a 4-0 victory. The Posse went 2-for-4 on the power-play and Peyton Trzaska stopped 27 shots for his second career KIJHL shutout and first of this playoffs. Knights goalie Austin Seibel was busy, as he stopped 43 of 47 shots. Sean Mitchell and Brayden Bablitz had three points each, while Dayton Nelson had two assists.

Leading 2-1 after a period, Daniel Wittenberg scored his first of the playoffs to give the Grizzlies a 3-1. They went on to win 5-2 against the Eagles. Wittenberg added a second goal and assisted on another. Jake Wallace had two assists for the Grizzlies, including setting up Wittenberg’s winner. Jozef Kuchaslo made 28 saves for the win, while Gage Reimer also had 28 saves. Alex Smith and Colby Agyeman scored for the Eagles.

Aiden Kruhlak continued his strong play in goal for the Ghostriders, who defeated the Dynamiters 4-0 in Game 1 of the Eddie Mountain Division Final. Kruhlak made 29 saves for his  Eli Nielsen’s first goal of the Teck Cup championships opened the scoring at 5:17 of the first period on the power-play. Liam Fitzgerald scored the insurance goal with his third of the playoffs 2:21 into the second period. Cole Fournier and Kort Kisinger scored the other Ghostrider goals. Kisinger had a three-point night. Matt Fleet stopped 23 of 27 shots for the Dynamiters.

Blake Anderson had two goals, his seventh and eighth of the playoffs, and an assist in a 4-3 Thunder Cats win over the Nitehawks in the opening game of the Neil Murdoch Division Final. Anderson’s second goal, assisted by Luke Chakrabarti and Nikolai Morrison, proved to be the winner as it gave the Thunder Cats a 4-2 lead. Chakrabarti had three points, Morrison picked up two assists. Parker Forrest made 49 saves for the win. The Nitehawks scored two of their three goals on the power-play by Tyson Tokarz and Eithan Grishin.

Brayden Bablitz gave the Posse a 3-2 overtime victory as he scored 1:42 into the period. It’s his second goal of the playoffs. The Posse had a 2-0 lead on goals by Jake McCulley, his second, and Tyson Horiachka, his fifth. Brody Pearson and Carson Devine scored for the Knights. Peyton Trzaska made 29 saves for the Posse, while Austin Seibel made 43, including 30 combined in the last two periods. He faced one shot in overtime.

The Grizzlies scored three unanswered goals, including an empty-netter, to secure a 3-1 win over the Eagles. After Noah Edstrom gave the Eagles a 1-0 lead late in the opening period, Brady Augot tied the game with a short-handed tally with just over three minutes remaining in the second period. David Coyle scored the winner with his second of the playoffs on the power-play in the third. Logan McLeod scored the third Grizzlies goal. Jozef Kuchaslo stopped 24 shots, while Gage Reimer made 43 saves including 17 in the first period.