Boiling point Reached in Game 4

The New Westminster Salmonbellies looked to tie the series up at 2 when they visited the Coquitlam Sports Centre on Monday evening.

Adam Dickson gave the Salmonbellies an early lead when he scored a minute into the period and with Keegan Rittenger in the box for delay of game, Anthony Malcom made the Adanacs pay the price as he beat goaltender Pete Dubenski to make it 2-0.

The Adanacs got their chance to get back into the game with Justin Goodwin in the box for holding and that they did when Wesley Berg set up Tyler Pace to put it past surprise starter Eric Penney to cut the 'Bellies lead to one.

Conner Stroup put the Adanacs a man down and 12 seconds later, Josh Byrne made it 3-1 for the 'Bellies. There was no celebrating for him, but there was much to celebrate just over 20 seconds later as Dickson scored his second of the game on the 'Bellies 6th shot to make it 4-1. The Adanacs called a timout after the goal and could've made it 4-2 when they got a power play opportunity, but they looked disorganized and couldn't get anything going.

It was the opposite for the 'Bellies though, when Connor Robinson put it past Dubenski to make it 5-1. Dubenski got the pull, but it was only for a minute. The Adanacs received another opportunity to get back into the game with the 'Bellies getting a bench minor at 18:44, but again, the Adanacs couldn't generate any chances and to make matters worse, Jakob Doucet scored shorthanded with 30 seconds remaining in the period. It was louder than when the Adanacs scored as the Salmonbellies supporters were out in full force.

It was a busy second period as the 'Bellies continued their run early in the period, but the Adanacs finally woke up in the latter half of the period and the beast Wesley Berg had risen.

The referee didn't like Tyler Pace running his mouth, so with Pace sitting for two, Robinson made it 7-1 at 3:14. Over two minutes later, Byrne netted his second of the game and that ended Dubenski's night.

After a brief Salmonbellies power play, some 4-on-4 action and a brief Adanacs power play, it was Byrne who got his hat trick at 9:59, but then the Adanacs stopped a bit of the bleeding. Eli McLaughlin's shot went off of Penney and then off of Jesse Gillespie and into the net as the Adanacs would take what they could get. Then it was James Rahe who basically scored an empty netter as Penney went to check a wide open Wortley in the middle, but guessed wrong in thinking that Rahe would pass it to Wortley.

Berg got on the board at 14:03 to make it a 9-4 game and that was the last thing the Salmonbellies wanted regardless of the five-goal lead. The 'Bellies broke the Adanacs streak of goals when Robinson received a nice behind the back pass from Byrne and put it past Camazzola at 15:48.

Berg scored his second shortly after Robinson's goal, but the Adanacs let one get by with 52 seconds remaining in the period when Malcom scored shorthanded to make it 11-5.

The third period started with tight defence as both teams were blocking shots. With some 4-on-4 action, Byrne took advantage of the open space and scored, but shortly after, the game reached its boiling point. Goaltender Penney got into it with Keegan Rittenger, as Penny received five minutes for high sticking and a game misconduct while Rittenger received two minutes for unsportsmanlike. The Adanacs could only score one on the extended power play with a goal by Pace.

After a goal by Jakob Doucet with 4:48 remaining in the game, it looked like Byrne might have nudged goaltender Camazzola or Camazzola didn't like how close Byrne was when coming in to celebrate, so Camazzola pushed Byrne a few times, getting up in his face, which then some Adanacs players decided to butt in for some more pushing and shoving. Everyone had a partner, including both goalies going at each other. With a bunch of fighting and game misconduct penalties, the 'Bellies ended up with a power play as Camazzola received an instigator, high sticking and three game misconduct penalties. The power play didn't matter. Pace scored short handed to get his hat trick and then more fights ensued.

The last five minutes of the game took about 20-30 minutes to play. If it wasn't Rahe and Alex Bohl fighting, it was Erik Klein and Quinn Mackay. The odd thing was that Michael Messenger was still out there after all these penalties. He tried to go with Jesse Gillespie, but Gillespie wouldn't drop his gloves.

With chants of "call the game" ringing through the arena, Adanacs' Challen Rogers scored and the referees decided to run the clock as the Salmonbellies evened the series at 2 with a 13-8 win.

Three stars of the game 
1. New Westminster - Josh Byrne - 4 goals, 4 assists
2. New Westminster - Anthony Malcom - 2 goals, 3 assists
3. New Westminster - Connor Robinson, 3 goals, 1 assist

With the series tied at 2, you won't want to miss game 5 after this game. Game 5 will take place at Queens Park Arena on Wednesday night.