By Matt Laurin
The Fernie Ghostriders fell to the Golden Rockets 3 – 1 in game one last night, as the second round of the KIJHL playoffs got underway.
A rested Golden team got goals from Connor Beauchemin and Marc Lepine early in the first period, while outshooting the Riders 18 – 8.
“It wasn’t the start that we needed,” said Ghostriders captain Josh McKissock. “I think we responded well in the last two periods, but there’s no excuse. The playoffs are a whole new season, and you have to be ready to show up every night.”
The Riders pushed back in the second period, firing 18 shots at Rockets goaltender James Leonard and generating all sorts of chances around the visitors’ net.
“We had a couple of tough breaks where the net was knocked off when the puck went in, and a couple of empty nets we could have bared down on a bit harder,” McKissock said.
Ben Primeau scored the lone Riders goal on an early third-period powerplay, to cut the lead to one. That was as close as the home team would come, as Blake Roney scored an insurance marker with just under four minutes to play.
The Ghostriders will look to build off the final two periods, where they outshot the Rockets 34 – 18.
“It’s a good match up for us. They’re a really disciplined team, so we have to keep that in mind, but once we started playing our game I thought we were the better team,” McKissock said.
The captain said they are already setting their sights on game two, to be played tonight at Fernie Memorial Arena.
“Short memory, learn from it, and get back to it. We’ll be ready to go,” he said.
Check thefreepress.ca or follow @ferniefreepress for updates throughout the second round.