Adanacs Lose Game 3 with Big Lineup Changes

The Calgary Mountaineers were on the brink of elimination on Saturday night at the Coquitlam Sports Centre.

There were quite a few lineup changes for the Coquitlam Adanacs, who started game 3 without Wesley Berg, Michael Messenger and Evan Wortley. As for the goaltenders, the Adanacs went with Riley Camazzola and the Mountaineers went with their game 1 starter, Jordan Kancsal.

The Mountaineers opened the scoring at 2:54 with a goal by Jordan Prysko. The Adanacs had a chance to tie the game up on their first power play, but it was the Mountaineers who took advantage of their power play later on as Cody Graden ripped it past Camazzola to make it 2-0.

The Mountaineers continued their dominant first period when Spencer Gelinas and Ian McShane scored 33 seconds apart to make it 4-0.

Mountaineers goaltender Kancsal made some big saves in the first period, a couple of them coming off breakaways, but before the period was over, Tyler Pace got one past Kancsal to make it 4-1.

The second period usually entails of the Adanacs putting the game away, but this time around, they needed to get into the game.

Pace scored his second of the game 1:05 into the second period to cut the Mountaineers lead to two. The Mountaineers received back-to-back power plays early on in the period, but couldn't generate any scoring chances keeping it 4-2.

It was then time for the Adanacs to get a power play of their own and Brett Hawrys made it count as he scored at 7:55 to make it a one-goal game.

Challen Rogers made a big defensive play as he intercepted a pass, ran down the wing and fed Pace who was coming off the bench and Pace deked out Camazzola to tie the game up at 9:05, forcing the Mountaineers to call a timeout.

The Adanacs third power play of the game was a four-minute power play where they could have taken their first lead of the game, but with some great defending and goaltending, the momentum was on the Mountaineers side and Dan Taylor made sure of it when he scored at 14:04 to regain the lead.

The Adanacs tied it up roughly a minute later when Kancsal couldn't drag the ball back into the crease and Eli McLaughlin knocked the ball to a wide open Hawrys who notched his second of the game.

The Mountaineers got their lead back when Gelinas scored his second goal of the game, scoring both behind the back. The second period ended with Erik Klein in the penalty box for a questionable high sticking call.

The third period started with a Mountaineers power play and they took advantage of it as Patrick Henry scored 43 seconds in to take a 7-5 lead.

The Adanacs took chances early on as they would pull Camazzola to see if they could catch the Mountaineers off guard and score with the man advatange, but it didn't work. They did however score on the power play at 9:00 with a goal by Eli McLaughlin, his first of the game.

Taylor got the goal right back for the Mountaineers to ensure they have more than a one-goal lead and Felker did exactly that by making it 9-6 at 13:48.

The game wasn't quite over yet when McLaughlin netted his second of the game at 17:11 to cut the lead to two.

Mountaineers' Matt Andruchow had an opportunity to put the game away with two minutes remaining, but he missed the empty net. Shortly after, Pace scored with 32 seconds left in the game. The Adanacs called a timeout with 17 seconds remaining.

With the clock winding down, Mountaineers' Ryan Gould makes a huge defensive play, knocking the ball loose and the Mountaineers stave off elimination with a 9-8 win.

Three Stars of the Game

Calgary, Dan Taylor - 2 Goals, 3 Assists
Calgary, Jordan Kancsal - 39 Saves, 8 Goals Against
Coquitlam, Tyler Pace - 4 Goals, 3 Assists

Despite the close score, it was evident how big of a loss Berg, Messenger and Wortley are for the Adanacs. Whether it was a day off to rest from an injury or if there is a serious injury, Adanacs coach Neil Doddridge will want to get those players back in for game 4. Regardless, the Mountaineers showed up for the entire 60 minutes for the first time this series and they deserve the credit. Game 4 takes place on Sunday night and you guessed it, same place, same time.