The 100 Mile House Wranglers are one game away from being the Doug Birks Division representative in the next round of the playoffs.
They beat the Chase Heat 3-2 in their barn on March 8 thanks to the three goals they scored in the second period.
Talking on the bus on the way home, coach Dale Hladun said it was a “big win” for the Wranglers because they have a three games to one lead coming into game 5 in 100 Mile House.
Now, they need just one more victory to claim the division playoff title.
As for the March 8 tilt in Chase, Hladun said goalie Zane Steeves was the team’s most important and valuable player.
“He bailed us out of a lot of situations. He was a man amongst boys in this one.”
He added Chase had a good game.
“Chase played a good game and had a good structure to them. I thought we got running around at little bit.
“I thought we played some solid minutes during the game, but, overall, we have to be better as a unit.”
Hladun noted he juggled the lines after the first period.
“We seemed kind of comfortable in our own skin and I didn’t like that. So, I just changed every line.
“I made them play with new players. I just wanted to form more communication among everybody to get them talking. I thought we were quiet and just going through the motions.
“So, when we changed it up a little bit, the boys came out with a little more jump. I thought we had a good second period and went up 3-0.”
Alex Meeker (Tavis Roch, Ryan Friesen) opened the scoring at 14:37. One minute later, Cole Zimmerman (Jaydon Gilding, Brett Harris) found the back of the net.
Justin Bond (Friesen) got the eventual game-winning goal at 7:27.
The Heat got two goals in the third frame with the second marker coming with seven ticks left on the clock when they pulled their goalie for the extra man.
Game 5
“The energy of our crowd will definitely buoy the boys. I think it will huge; we play well at home.
“It’s an intimidating barn for Chase to come into and the boys will be ready.”
Hladun hopes he will have Tyler Povelofskie, a full-time student in Williams Lake, back in the lineup because “he does such a good job for us on the power play, five-on-five and our penalty kill.”
Game 5 is at the South Cariboo Rec. Centre and the boys are counting on their hometown fans to cheer them on to victory today (March 10). The puck drops at 7 p.m.
If necessary, game 6 will be in Chase on March 11 and back in 100 Mile House for game 7 on March 12.
Scoring review
Game 1: (6-1 Wrangler win) Nick McCabe (Todd Bredo, Kolten Carpenter); Friesen (Alex Meeker, Bond); Zimmerman (Brady Ward, Stephen Egan); McCabe (Bond, Alex Hanson); Bond (Roch, McCabe); and McCabe (Bond, Hanson).
Game two: (3-2 Wrangler win) Austin Turner (McCabe); Meeker (Zimmerman, Friesen); and Harris unassisted, short-handed in triple overtime.
Game 3: (3-2 Wrangler loss) Bond (Harris); and Harris (Friesen).
