The St. Albert Raiders were poised to deliver the knockout punch after pinning the Leduc Oil Kings against the ropes in the midget AAA north division final.
Wednesday's 5-3 victory in front of a full house at Akinsdale Arena gave the Raiders the upper hand with a 2-0 series lead in the best-of-five playoff.
"We've got a stranglehold on them. Hopefully we can finish them off Friday," said defenceman Kaiden Tobin.
Game three was played Friday in Leduc but the score was unavailable at press time.
If needed, game four would be Sunday at 2:15 p.m. at Akinsdale and game five Tuesday in Leduc at 7:30 p.m.
"We're happy with our accomplishments so far but there is still a job to be done. There is still one more game to win and we want to close it out as soon as we can," said centre Kevin Miller.
The series winner will play the Red Deer Rebels or the Calgary Flames in the best-of-five provincial final.
"We have a good chance of going far," said centre Liam McNamara. "It's so surreal right now. Everyone is so pumped up."
The Raiders are playing their best hockey of the season with five wins in six playoff games.
"Everything is good right now. Goaltending is great. Defence is great. Offence is great," McNamara said. "As a team we're tight. We're really clenched together. We're playing hard for each other."
Leduc, the host team for the Telus Cup national championship in April, finished five points ahead of the second-place Raiders (21-9-4) in the north standings and twice beat St. Albert 1-0 in league play.
"Our team is just outplaying them right now," McNamara said.
In the 3-2 series-opening win last weekend the Raiders rallied in the last 10 minutes on goals by Dan Huculak, Kyler Hehn and Miller after the home team scored twice earlier in the third period.
"We really played only half a game," Tobin said. "In the second game we played more of a 60-minute game. We played really hard and we outworked them."
The Raiders never trailed in game two after Luc Lalor struck on the power play.
"It was huge. It really kicked off the game. It got us going and gave us lots of confidence," McNamara said.
Shorthanded strike
The back and forth affair wasn't decided until the third period, when McNamara scored shorthanded with about five minutes remaining to put the Raiders up by two.
"That was probably the turning point. They just couldn't come back after that," Miller said.
McNamara, 17, teamed up with Josh Jewell for the play of the game.
"Josh was going in hard and he kind of turned over the puck. I tipped it through and Josh shot it at the net and it came back to me and I just took another shot and it went in," McNamara said. "After that goal we had more confidence to win the game."
Wyatt Hoflin continued his steady netminding as the Raiders pushed Leduc to the brink of elimination.
"It was a good game. Everyone had a job to do and we all got it done," said McNamara.
The Grade 12 St. Albert Catholic High School student is flanked by Jewell and Joey Bergot on a formidable line combination.
Another potent offensive trio features Miller, the team's top scorer in the regular season with 15 goals and 41 points in 33 games, between Trace Elson and McNamara's twin brother, Mitch.
"I've had a pretty good year offensively. I've played on power play and I've been put in situations to get goals. I've also had good linemates throughout the year," said Miller.
The Grade 12 Memorial Composite High School student is among a handful of veteran Raiders who suffered a heartbreaking 3-2 double overtime loss to Leduc in the fifth and deciding game in last year's north semifinals.
"We want to put them out. It's payback," said Tobin, 17.
The Raiders suffered the same fate two years ago against Leduc in the north semifinals.
"We all want to break the curse," Miller said.
The Raiders established themselves as a team to fear during their electrifying run at the Mac's tournament in Calgary with five straight wins before dropping a 3-2 decision to Russia Severstal/Locomotiv in the semifinals.
"At the Mac's we were really close as a team. We've kept that good chemistry going and we're playing good hockey right now," said Tobin, a second-year Raider and Grade 11 Memorial student.
Miller, 17, credits the coaching staff for putting the Raiders in position for a rare trip to the provincial final.
"They've kept us on track and we've kept getting better," he said. "We all love coming to the rink right now. It's fun when you're winning."
