The Ridge Meadows Flames swept the Mission Outlaws in four straight games in their best-of-seven Pacific Junior Hockey League playoff series, with a 5-3 win on Tuesday, Feb. 27 at the Mission Leisure centre.
Facing elimination, Mission jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first period, but then the Flames got four unanswered goals. They were led by forward Nolan Bowsher, who was the first star of the game with two goals and an assist.
The Flames beat the Outlaws 4-1 on Friday night, Feb. 23, and then shut them out 6-0 on Saturday. Those results followed at close 4-3 comeback win in their series opener on Feb. 19.
On Saturday, Theo Kochan scored a hat trick, and Jack Foster put up three assists.
“We played great,” said Kochan in an interview with Flames broadcaster Andrew Cheverie. “We came out and played a full 60 today, so nothing to complain about.
“We came out hard, and pressured them the whole game, and they just couldn’t handle it.”
Goalie Matthew Candusso made 19 saves to get the shutout.
“It was great to close out that series – rest is a weapon in the playoffs,” said Flames general manager Derek Bedard.
He saw signs that his team should have success, including that each of his rookie goaltenders Vaughn Kaliel and Matthew Candusso both played well in a two games each.
Bedard also likes the balanced scoring the Flames had.
“Our big guns were putting pucks in the net, and we got production from throughout the lineup,” he said.
Zack Lagrange led the Flames in scoring through the first round, with three goals and four assists in the four games.
Bedard lauded team captain Lukas Ravenstein, who put the team on his back in the first game of the series to spark a comeback win.
“His leadership is great, he’s always saying the right things and leading by example,” Bedard said.
He noted veteran forward Lincoln Edwards had a good series, with four points in three playoff games, after putting up modest point totals all year.
Having swept their way through their first series of the Stonehouse Cup Pacific Junior Hockey League playoffs, the Flames will take on the winner of the conference semi-final series between the Chilliwack Jets and Langley Trappers. Chilliwack took a 3-2 lead in the series.
No games have yet been scheduled, but Bedard expects a lot of interest – there were about 700 fans at the Friday night game.
“Cam Neely is a fun rink to play in when it’s full,” he said.
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