Their backs are against the wall after two straight double-overtime losses, but the Abbotsford Pilots believe they’re capable of a comeback.
The local club dropped two games in heartbreaking fashion in their Pacific Junior Hockey League semifinal playoff series on the weekend, as the Aldergrove Kodiaks opened a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven set.
On Friday at MSA Arena, Kodiaks forward Brandon Dolby jammed the puck past Abby goalie Aaron Oakley in a goalmouth scramble at 7:58 of the second OT to lift his team to a 5-4 win. On Sunday, it was Stefan Gonzales playing the hero – he scored at 3:33 of double-OT to give Aldergrove a 4-3 triumph.
“We’re still in pretty good shape – you’ve got to win four games, that’s usually how it works,” insisted Pilots coach Jim Cowden, noting that his team rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the 2011 playoffs vs. the Port Moody Panthers.
“Generally, we’ve been playing pretty well, and we’re still pretty confident. We’ll just have to keep plugging away.”
Fueling the Pilots’ confidence is the fact they built third-period leads in both weekend losses, but the flip side of that coin is, they need to finish stronger.
“We had breakdowns both games,” Cowden noted. “But we’re still upbeat and believe we can win this.”
Game 5 goes at MSA Arena at 7 p.m., with the Pilots hoping to force Game 6 (Wednesday, 7:15 p.m., Aldergrove Community Arena) and Game 7 (Friday, 7:30 p.m., MSA Arena).
