The Ridge Meadows Flames stayed alive in their best-of-seven playoff series, by beating the Abbotsford Pilots 4-3 on Saturday night in Albion.
That left the series at 3-1 for Abbotsford, with a potential elimination game being played tonight at MSA Arena.
On Saturday, Ridge scored three minutes in, got three second-period goals, and then held on for the victory.
Team scoring leader Dale Howell scored twice, including the eventual game winner, and team captain Travis Oddy had a goal and an assist. Jordan Rendle also scored, and Nicholas Coltura and Michael Bell each had two assists.
The Pilots won the first three games of the series by scores of 4-3, 6-2 and 5-1.
After the game two victory, Pilots coach Jim Cowden said the difference between the two teams is slimmer than it would appear.
“I just thought we capitalized a little bit on our chances, and we were more disciplined,” Cowden said. “The shots are fairly equal, and they’ve had some great scoring chances. They work hard.”
If the Flames can prolong the series, it will shift back to Planet Ice Wednesday for an 8:45 p.m. start.
Game seven is scheduled for Abbotsford’s MSA Arena on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
The winner of that series will play the winner of the Aldergrove Kodiaks and Mission City Outlaws. The Kodiaks have a 3-0 series lead.
