The St. Albert Crusaders are in a must-win situation for the second consecutive playoff series in the Northern Alberta Midget AA Hockey League.
The defending Fountain Tire Cup champions play SSAC Don Wheaton today in game two in the best-of-three league semifinal.
Faceoff is 5:15 p.m. at Confederation Arena.
If needed, game three is 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Akinsdale Arena.
SSAC won the series opener 7-3 Wednesday in St. Albert as the Inside Edge division leaders (21-7-4) tallied four unanswered goals in the third period.
Kelvyn Tremblay, Tristen Gavin and Matt Laird scored for the Crusaders.
The Crusaders were outshot 43-41. Connor Mckay (five GA on 35 shots) started in net and was replaced by Elliot Saive (two GA on eight shots).
In league play the Crusaders beat SSAC 8-2 in November in St. Albert.
The Crusaders (22-6-4) are coming off a 2-1 series victory over the Wetaskiwin Ice Men (16-9-7) in the Clean Harbors division final. After losing game one 3-2 in St. Albert, the Crusaders rallied from a 2-1 third-period deficit in game two to win 5-2 in Wetaskiwin and completed the playoff comeback with a 6-2 decision in the deciding game in St. Albert.
Monday the St. Albert Royals host SSAC Dolce Vita Homes in game three in the best-of-five Rural & Edmonton Midget 15 AA Hockey League final.
Puck drop is 6:45 p.m. Monday at Akinsdale Arena.
SSAC won game one 6-4 Tuesday in St. Albert and game two was played Friday at Confederation Arena but the score was unavailable at press time.
If needed, game four is 8:45 p.m. Tuesday at Confederation and game five is 7 p.m. Thursday at Akinsdale.
Both teams skated into the final with 5-0 playoff records.
In game one SSAC potted three goals in a row with under 11 minutes to play after Logan Hunter and Christian MacDonald scored 22 seconds apart in the third period to put the Crusaders up 4-3.
Hunter also struck late in the first as the Royals trailed 2-1 after 20 minutes and 3-2 after two periods.
Dan Lewis notched one goal and two assists and Justin Roy finished with three assists.
The Royals were outshot 19-9 in the third and 42-35 overall. In net was Parker Waseylenko (2-1, 2.67 GAA).
The first-place Royals (23-4-3) and third-place SSAC (21-8-1) split their four-game season series.
