'Bellies Force Game 7

It was do or die for the New Westminster Salmonbellies on Friday evening at the Coquitlam Sports Centre as the Coquitlam Adanacs held a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 BCJALL Final.

Goaltender Eric Penney got the start for the New Westminster Salmonbellies, but his period wasn’t as busy as it was for Adanacs goaltender Pete Dubenski and he should be happy about that.

As most of the games in this year’s final, the Salmonbellies opened the scoring in game 6 when Nathan Stewart scored at 1:13. The lead quickly vanished just over a minute later when Adanacs’ Wesley Berg shot it low to beat Penney to tie the game up.

The ‘Bellies took a quick two-goal lead when Anthony Malcom scored at 5:42 and then Johnny Pearson, who missed game 5 due to suspension, was back in the lineup for game 6 and made a difference early as he scored at 6:20 to make it 3-1.

The Adanacs looked to cut the ‘Bellies lead to 1 when they got their first power play at 7:23. While they couldn’t generate any scoring chances on the power play, it was Brett Hawrys who dove across the crease and scored about a minute after the power play expired to make it 3-2.

It was at 11:02 when the Salmonbellies offence started to really click. Connor Robinson found Adam Dickson cutting into the middle and Dickson quickly released his shot to beat Dubenski. Malcom netted his second of the game at 14:04 and then at 16:36, Luke Gillespie hustled down into the Adanacs zone, chasing the ball into the corner, where he quickly picked it up and dove across the crease to make it 6-2.

The ‘Bellies went up by five goals when Josh Byrne set a pick for Robinson, who then got open to unleash his shot to beat Dubenski at 17:24.

It took the ‘Bellies half of the second period to get back on track. With Salmonbellies’ Jordan McKenzie in the box for holding, Berg scored on the power play to make it 7-3 at 3:41.

Not only did the ‘Bellies tighten up their defence, but Penney played strong for the rest of the second period as he only let in the Berg goal early on and went on to make 13 saves in the period. It wasn’t till 13:57 when the ‘Bellies got their scoring going again with a goal by Robinson on a delayed penalty call. 33 seconds later, Byrne scored his 17th goal of the playoffs, being the sole leader of the playoffs in goals.

The ‘Bellies made the game out of reach for the Adanacs as Stewart scored his second of the game and Malcom netted his hat trick before the period ended to make it 11-3.

Tyrell Hammer-Jackson opened the scoring in the third period when he ripped one past Dubenski at 2:07 and that was the end of Dubenski’s night as Anthony Dale took over.

Just over 30 seconds later, Erik Klein scored the Adanacs’ fourth goal of the game, but it didn’t add any momentum for the Adanacs. The ‘Bellies didn’t add much offence for the rest of the period as Dale only made 5 saves, letting in two goals. The Adanacs didn’t give up even though they were losing by eight goals, as they fired 22 shots at Penney, who made 19 saves in the period.

With some 4-on-4 action, the Adanacs pulled Dale and it worked in their favour as James Rahe got his first goal of the game at 11:36, to make it 12-5. With Salmonbellies’ Quinn Mackay and Adanacs’ Evan Wortley sitting in the box for high sticking, there was more 4-on-4 action, which the Adanacs decided to pull Dale again, but it didn’t work in their favour this time as Jakob Doucet scored on the empty net to make it 13-5.

Tyler Pace added a goal for the Adanacs at 18:25, but it didn’t mean anything as the Salmonbellies force a game 7 with a 13-6 win.

Three stars of the game
1. New Westminster – Eric Penney – 45 saves, 6 goals allowed 
2. New Westminster - Connor Robinson – 2 goals, 4 assists
3. New Westminster – Nathan Stewart – 2 goals, 4 assists

After a great outing in game 6, look to see Penney in goal for the Salmonbellies in game 7. Who will win game 7? Will it be the Salmonbellies who will finally snap the Adanacs’ title streak or will the Adanacs win their 6th straight title? Come out to Queens Park on Sunday, August 3rd at 8PM to find out.