'Bellies Advance to Finals

The Delta Islanders headed to Queens Park to take on the New Westminster Salmonbellies in a do-or-die game as the 'Bellies could head to the finals with a win on Tuesday night.

You could say the first period was full of goals and no defence. The Islanders struck first on the power play at 3:12 with a goal by Jonathan Phillips. It was a slow start for the 'Bellies as they were down 2-0 by the seven-minute mark when Spencer Bromley scored for the Islanders.

The goose egg for the 'Bellies did not last long however, as playoff goal-scoring leader Johnny Pearson scored at 8:36 and followed up with another goal on the power play at 12:45 to even the score at 2.

The Islanders regained their lead at 16:06 when Cory Takahara scored, but then Salmonbellies' Brett Dobray and co. turned things up a notch. Connor Robinson scored at 16:51 and then Dobray went on a mission scoring three goals in the last two minutes of the period to give the 'Bellies a 7-5 lead at the end of the period.

Salmonbellies' Josh Byrne was only seen for part of the first period as he seemed to have injured himself. He came out for the start of the second period, but went back to the locker room in what seemed to be his last shift of the night.

The second period saw some more goals, an illegal equipment penalty and frustration boiling over for the Islanders.

Salmonbellies' Jakob Doucet scored on a breakaway at 4:27 to make it 8-5, but Phillips notched his second of the game just over two minutes later to keep the game in reach. After Anthony Malcom scored for the Salmonbellies, Islanders' Brad Hofmann beat goaltender Bowman seconds later and then on a delayed penalty call, Cody Nass scored to cut the 'Bellies lead to 1. Bowman's night was done after the Nass goal and Eric Penney took over to finish the game for the second time this series.

It looked like the goalie change sparked the Salmonbellies as Dobray netted his fourth of the game along with Pearson and Luke Gillespie scored his first of many by 10:53.

Gillespie notched his second goal of the game at 17:04, giving the 'Bellies a 13-8 lead. With Pearson in the box for holding, Islanders coach Greg Rennie asked the referee to check goaltender Penney's stick. The referee determined that Penney was using an illegal stick, which resulted in a two-minute penalty and the use of a ridiculously small stick.

With a 5-on-3, the Islanders called a timeout to set up their power play and it worked as Spencer Stevens scored to make it 13-9. Immediately following the goal, Salmonbellies' Justin Goodwin dropped the gloves with Islanders' Mike Henry. Mike Henry got a good one-two punch to knock down Goodwin, but Goodwin got back up to land a few of his own as they both wrestled to the ground. Along with the game misconducts, Islanders' Mike Avery received two minutes for unsportsmanlike, resulting in a power play goal by Gillespie at 19:58. A scrap ensued between Tyrell Hammer-Jackson and Islanders' Brett Anderson at the end of the period, with Hammer-Jackson receiving the extra roughing penalty.

With the game not entirely out of reach for the Islanders, some would think the Islanders would continue to go hard in the third period, but they seemed to have run out of gas and the 'Bellies put it in cruise control.

At 1:27, Robinson and Pearson chatted at centre to run a play on the power play and the play ran without a hitch, as Robinson set a pick for Pearson who had all day to put it past goaltender Hood.

Islanders' Phillips and Evan Messenger each scored to make the score 15-11, but Salmonbellies' Adam Dickson scored less than a minute after Messenger's to give the 'Bellies a five-goal lead.

With the Islanders and Salmonbellies each scoring a goal with less than three minutes left in the game, it was the end for the Islanders as the Salmonbellies advance to the finals with a final score of 17-12.

Three stars of the game
1. New Westminster - Johnny Pearson - 5 goals, 3 assists
2. New Westminster - Brett Dobray - 4 goals, 4 assists
3. New Westminster - Connor Robinson - 1 goal, 7 assists

The New Westminster Salmonbellies will now wait for the Victoria and Coquitlam series to finish, which could be on Saturday as the Adanacs are up 2-0, meaning the finals could start around Friday, July 25th.