Justin Bond was on fire last night as he scored two goals to help the 100 Mile House Wranglers take a strangle hold on the 2016 KIJHL Championship with a 3-2 victory on home ice against the Kimberley Dynamiters.
Bond’s line-mates were also flying as Nick McCabe pick up assists on all three Wrangler goals and Alex Meeker also got an assist.
Wranglers coach and general manager Dale Hladun says he was happy with the effort his players.
“Justin Bond again proves he’s a premier scorer in our league. It was a couple of huge goals from him. He’s been getting all those key goals throughout the playoffs and the regular season.”
The Wranglers were up 3-0 midway through second period on goals by Bond (Todd Bredo, McCabe), Bond (Meeker, McCabe) and Tyler Povelofskie (McCabe).
Dynamiters goalie Tyson Brouwer was pulled after the Wranglers’ third goal and was replaced by Mitch Traichevich.
Kimberley’s Korbyn Chabot (Sawyer Hunt, Jordan Busch) and Jared Marchi (Keenan Haase) replied for the Dynamiters.
The Wranglers were outshot 42-24 with most of the Kimberley shots coming from the perimeter and on the power play where sharpshooters had a little more open ice.
The Dynamiters scored two power-play goals on nine opportunities, with seven Wranglers penalties coming in the second half of the middle stanza and the third period.
Hladun says it was interesting how many penalties are called from the opponents bench instead by officials.
“It’s not that we’re angels but it was a lot of penalties in a row. It’s something we’re going to have to take charge of.
“But night to night, you just never know. If they play that same game tonight and your fine. It’s how the pendulum works – swinging back and forth when it comes to officiating in the KIJHL.”
The coach says he thought Zane Steeves was “stellar. He’s proving he’s the best goalie in the league.”
Hladun says the unsung heroes of the game were his penalties killers Stephen Egan, Tate Page, Brett Harris and Povelofskie.
“As did our D men but those forwards killed a lot of penalties. Our penalty kill was important, if not the most important, yesterday.
The Wranglers scored to power-play markers on five opportunities.
Game 5 of the series goes tonight (March 31) at the South Cariboo Rec. Centre in 100 Mile House. The puck drops at 7 p.m.
