The Fernie Ghostriders and the Columbia Valley Rockies have battled out the first two games of their playoff series, and so far the two teams stand on equal footing score-wise.
The first game took place on Feb. 22 at Invermere’s Eddie Mountain Memorial Arena, and ended in a 2-5 loss for the Ghostriders, with the second game taking place on Feb. 23 at the same arena, ending in a 5-2 win for Fernie.
Fernie began on Feb. 22 with goalie Thomson Casey (#1) in net.
The first goal of the game was scored by the Rockies about midway through the first period. The Ghostriders took one penalty that period, with Dayton Nelson (#15) being sent to the box on a ‘too many men’ call.
The second period saw more action than the first, but leaned heavily in the Rockies’ favour goal-wise. The Rockies took the first powerplay goal of the period at 2:03 minutes in with Sean Jacobs (#5) sent to the box at 53 seconds for holding. Kort Kisinger (#21) of the Ghostriders scored the only goal of the period for Fernie at 9:17 minutes, with assists from Nelson and Matthew Schulmeister (#27).
Kisinger’s goal was scored on a Ghostriders powerplay. There were 10 penalties issued throughout the period, six for the Ghostriders and four for the Rockies. Three of those penalties were overlapping and fell on the shoulders of Ghostrider Ben Couvier (#26) at the same time.
The next two goals of the period were scored by the Rockies, giving them a 4-1 lead as they entered the third period.
The third period saw a goal from the Rockies at 5:49 minutes, after which Dylan Lacroix (#31) replaced Casey in net. Ghostriders’ Jake Oviatt (#8) took the final goal of the game at 17:24 minutes in. There were three penalties in the third period, two for the Ghostriders, one against Nelson and another against Jacobs.
Shots on goal for the game were 35 for Fernie and 42 for Columbia Valley, with the final score 5-2 for the Rockies.
READ MORE: Ghostriders conclude regular season with combative first period, victory against Creston
On Feb. 23, the series’ second game, Lacroix started (and finished) in net.
The first period didn’t see a goal until 12:08 minutes in, when Ghostrider Rylan Cardinal (#10) put the puck in the Rockies’ net with assists from Schulmeister and Nick Mitchell (#12). Fernie had four shots against the Rockies for the whole period, with Columbia Valley putting 11 shots against Lacroix with no success.
Oviatt took the second goal of the game at 4:17 into the second period, with assists from Kisinger and Scott Sinclair (#4). The Rockies took a goal at 10:39 into the second, which was answered about five minutes later with another goal from Cardinal at 15:22, assisted by Schulmeister.
The Ghostriders entered the third with a 3-1 lead, which was fortified even further with a shorthanded goal by Sinclair at 8:05 minutes in, assisted by Oviatt and Schulmeister. Jock Michael (#13), got another shorthanded goal without any assists at 16:22 minutes in, giving the Ghostriders a very powerful lead heading to the games’ conclusion. One more goal was scored by the Rockies at 17:38 minutes.
The final shot count was 17 for the Ghostriders and 43 for the Rockies, with the game ending in a win for the Ghostriders, 5-2. There were eight penalties in the game, five for Fernie and three for Columbia Valley.
The two teams will be facing off again on Feb. 25 at 7:30 p.m. at the Fernie Memorial Arena.
READ MORE: Ghostriders get new goalie, among other roster shifts
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