The Princeton Posse put up a fierce fight at the Revelstoke Forum Saturday night, March 22, in a critical Game 6, but succumbed to a shutout as the defending KIJHL champions advanced to the Okanagan Conference Final.
Fast forward to 12 minutes into the first frame, a scrum developed in front of Princeton's net that created a window for the Revelstoke Grizzlies' Kesler Fyfe to tap the puck in for the crucial key first goal and game-winner of the evening. Jacob Smith and Nathan White delivered the assists.
The second frame kicked off with more puck possession over on the Posse's side of the ice. The Grizzlies passed quickly and strategically, and the game continued to sail relatively clean, much unlike previous series face-offs.
Halfway through the period, Keiran Keilly and Jett Patola weaved through Princeton's defence on a right-side attack. Goaltender Gibson Horne stretched wide to deflect the attempt, but couldn't recover to stop Keilly from scooping up the puck and tapping it in left.
The Grizzlies had already won the night but didn't drop their momentum after goal No. 2. Their defence remained tight, and Princeton, despite high energy among its players, simply couldn't get more than one man making plays on Revelstoke's side.
Princeton equalized shots on goal at 27-27 with four minutes left, before Revelstoke took off again. Weston Field, who'd assisted Keilly's goal, had a solo run at the net without success. The Grizzlies started to let their defence crack as their puck possession dropped. White, while otherwise having a great night with two assists, got checked right after the buzzer in what almost became a fight.
Two minutes into the third, the Posse's Brayden Sumner took off along the left for Revelstoke's net and fired just shy of a goal. The night was characterized by many high-flying pucks and low-sliding sticks. Patola even lost a glove at one point on defence. The Grizzlies made another good chance for a goal at six minutes, firing just above the net on the right and losing a follow-up shot on the left.
Both sides were sprinting hard, side to side. Horne took a hard hit in Princeton's goal midway through the frame and needed a moment with his trainer on the ice, before recovering and getting back in net to the applause of Revelstokians. He made a hard block just seconds into the resuming play.
Alas, the Posse still couldn't get the manpower onto Revelstoke's side to make plays. With seven minutes left, Mark LaFleur nearly narrowly missed a goal when he back-sticked a puck passed in from right.
The final goal for Revelstoke to sound off the victory and “warm up the bus” for the Posse, resulted in the last three minutes from assists by White again and Austin Wooley. The puck banked off the boards on the right side, where Patola snatched it and slid it past a splayed-out defender and into the empty net where the goalie had been pulled, delivering the final blow to Princeton.
The Grizzlies now progress to a third round of playoffs. Earlier in the week against Princeton, Revelstoke had gone 0-4 Tuesday (March 18), 1-0 Wednesday (March 19) and 5-2 Friday (March 21).
Follow updates for the Grizzlies' playoff schedule at revelstokegrizzlies.com/stats/schedule.
