The first playoff loss for the St. Albert Merchants was decided on a power-play goal in overtime Sunday.
Josh Read of the Beaumont Chiefs scored with 10 seconds left in Jared Kwasney’s roughing minor to knock off the Money Men 2-1 in game three in the best-of-seven Capital Junior B Hockey League semifinal at Akinsdale Arena.
It’s the first loss by the Merchants – 34-3-1 in league play and 5-1 in the playoffs – since a 3-2 setback in Beaumont on Jan. 17 stopped their 17-game winning streak.
“It had to happen sooner or later but it sucks obviously to see your winning streak end,” said assistant captain Taylor Wiebe of the team’s first loss in 11 league and playoff games combined. “You can’t go through the whole playoffs and not lose a game, right? It’s a seven-game series and it’s only one game.”
It also marked the first playoff game the Chiefs buried a puck past all-star netminder Justin Pawlenchuk after shutout loses of 9-0 Thursday in St. Albert and 3-0 Friday in Beaumont.
Jay Goudreau’s unassisted effort with 3:43 left in period one ended Beaumont’s scoreless drought.
“They finally found a way to pot some against Pawley,” Wiebe said. “Our defence played well and everyone played well defensively too. Even though they only got two goals we still had a chance to win it.”
Goudreau’s goal was the first shot Pawlenchuk failed to stop after Patrick Coones of the Beverly Warriors slipped the puck past him with four seconds left in period two of the best-of-five quarter-final opener Feb. 21 in the Merchants 7-3 victory in St. Albert.
Pawlenchuk (5-1, 0.82 GAA and .972 save percentage) went on to blank the Warriors 4-0 (32 saves) and 7-0 (22 saves) to sweep the series before blanking the Chiefs in games one (28 saves) and two (35 saves).
“It’s unreal,” Wiebe said of the 276.21 minutes of shutout hockey. “It’s definitely a team effort, especially with our forwards coming back the way they do.
“It all starts in the defensive end and the offence will come once we get out of our own end.”
In game three Pawlenchuk faced 25 shots and Kyle Hynes of the Chiefs was tested 40 times.
Hynes (6-2, 2.65 GAA) also turned aside 34 shots in game two after sitting out the series lid-lifter.
“He played good the last two games. He was, I’m not going to say fluky, but he just seemed to stop everything. It didn’t matter how it looked, he was always in front of it,” said Wiebe.
The rugged forward and Blair Macuch set up linemate A.J. Yariwon’s goal in the middle frame to knot the score Sunday.
After a scoreless third, which included a five-minute cross-checking major and game misconduct to Casey Reid of the Merchants, the 10-minute extra period ended with three minutes to go on Read’s power-play tally.
It was the fifth OT playoff game in three series for the Chiefs, winners of four sudden-death affairs.
When asked if it was a questionable call against Kwasney by the referee, Wiebe replied: “He let a lot go in overtime I guess and maybe it was a little weak in overtime but he still called it so what do you do?”
Wiebe, 21, is confident the Merchants can put the loss behind them in game four tonight in Beaumont at 8:30 p.m.
“If we just stick to our game they won’t be able to touch us,” said the second-year Merchant. “They can’t skate with us. They more or less come out and try to run you and hit you.”
Game five is 8 p.m. Friday at Akinsdale.
If needed, game six is 5:30 p.m. Sunday in Beaumont and game seven is 8 p.m. Wednesday at Akinsdale.
The winner advances to the April 3 to 6 provincials in Grande Prairie as one of two CJHL reps and will play the Fort Saskatchewan Hawks or North Edmonton Red Wings in the best-of-five Founders Cup final.
The heat is on the Merchants to go the distance, not only because they lost the seventh and deciding game in last year’s semifinal by one goal to the Wetaskiwin Icemen in St. Albert but they finished with the best team record since the 36-0 Money Men in 1996/97.
"Everybody is expecting us to be at provincials. There is a lot more pressure because we’ve had such a good season so it’s a lot harder on the guys,” said Wiebe, a versatile skater who can play either wing, ranks second on the team in playoff goals with four while compiling six points in five games.
ICE CHIPS: Scoring for the Merchants in game two was Mitch McNamara (power play) in the second and Kwasney and Josh Jewell (empty net) in the third.
Yariwon’s goal Sunday was his fifth to tie Jewell for the team lead and Macuch’s assist was his team-high 11th point of the playoffs.
