The Ridge Meadows Flames were eliminated from the playoffs on Wednesday, falling 4-2 at home in Game 6 of the junior B championship series to the Delta Ice Hawks.
Jesse Nelson, from Jordan Bogress and Aiden Hansen-Bukata, gave Delta a 1-0 lead 8:50 into the first period.
Jonathan Rees Jr., from Daniel Rubin and Jordan Deyrmenjian, made it 2-0 at 18:29.
The Flames battled back in the second, with a pair of goals from captain Andrew Strelezki
But Jordan Deyrmenjian responded for Delta on the powerplay before the middle frame ended, then Gary Dhaliwal added an empty-netter in the third.
🚨 ICE HAWKS SCOOOORE!!! Dhaliwal empty netter! pic.twitter.com/MV1oZn4Xas
— Delta Ice Hawks (@deltaicehawks) March 29, 2018
Cameron Kovesdi had two assists for the Flames. Halen Cordoni had one.
Paul Tucek made 36 saves for the Flames, who were outshot 40-28 overall.
Handshakes. Thank you @flamesjunior for an amazing, hard-fought series! pic.twitter.com/unoap093DZ
— Delta Ice Hawks (@deltaicehawks) March 29, 2018
The Flames lost Game 5 of the best-of-seven Pacific Junior Hockey League championship series 7-2 on Monday in Delta.
Three of the first four games in the series went to overtime.
The Flames finished atop the Harold Brittain Conference in the regular season, then eliminated the Abbotsford Pilots to advance to the junior B championship final for the first time in 20 years.
Delta finished first overall in the regular season with 77 points. The Ice Hawks’ goaltending tandem of Jordan Naylor and Jordy Engleson topped the PJHL in goals-against average and save percentage. They allowed just 79 goals all season, 45 fewer than the team with the next least.
Delta also led the league with 237 goals for, for a plus-158 differential.