Following a double overtime win on Sunday, the Maple Ridge Burrards stole a game from the New Westminster Salmonbellies with two seconds left to play on Tuesday night.
The Burrards have taken a 3-1 lead in their WLA first-round playoff series against the Salmonbellies after the 10-9 win at Queens Park Arena. They can now win the series at home, as game five of the best-of-seven is slated for Thursday night in Maple Ridge.
The Salmonbellies tied the game 9-9 with 18 seconds left, and thought they were headed to overtime, but Ridge’s rental superstar Dane Dobbie got the game-winning goal with an extra attacker with two seconds left in the game. He led the Burrards with five goals and seven points, and was named the game’s first star.
“Getting scored on with 18 seconds left was a heartbreaker, and 16 seconds later was jubilation,” said GM Lance Andre.
In the final seconds, he said the Salmonbellies defence doubled up on Curtis Dickson, who had scored the game winner in double overtime last game. But that left Dobbie enough room to get off a shot that proved to be the game winner.
Dickson had six assists Tuesday night. Ben McIntosh had three goals on the night, including a huge short-handed efford in the third.
The Burrards needed great penalty killing to get the win, because New West benefitted from a huge edge in power plays. The Salmonbellies went four-for-11 with the man advantage, while the Burrards went two-for-four.
Ref Nick Thomas, the head referee in the WLA, whistled the Burrards for five straight penalties in the third period, allowing New West to gain some momentum and three power play goals.
WLA all-star goaltender Frank Scigliano had 45 saves on 54 shots, and was the third star of the game.
“Frankie stood on his head last night, and the penalty kill was great,” said Andre.
The GM said he would talk with the league office about the penalties, which he felt did not reflect the temperature of the game. With the Burrards up 5-2 after the first period, the penalties favoured New West 6-1 in the second period and 5-1 in the third. Both teams were physical, he said.
“We’re two big, powerful teams playing hard.”
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Thursday night’s game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Cam Neely Arena.
“We hope to have a great crowd, and win it for the home crowd,” said Andre.
The winner of this series will meet the Victoria Shamrocks in the WLA championship series.
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