Their backs were against the wall, but on Wednesday night, the Grandview Steelers proved just how tough a team they really are.
The Steelers were at home on Wednesday for the fourth game of the Pacific Junior Hockey League final best-of-seven series against the Mission City Outlaws. The Burnaby-based junior B team were at a 3-0 deficit going into the game and needed a win to stay alive.
“Our focus was to have the right choice of mind and take it one shift at a time, and when we did, we played a really solid game from start to finish,” said head coach Aldo Bruno on Thursday.
The Steelers started the first period strong with a shorthanded goal by Kristofor Zlomislic. Come the second period, the Steelers’ Nicolas Bizzutto slipped another puck past the Outlaws’ goalie to make it 2-0 for the home team. The team managed to stave off Mission City’s offence for the remainder of the period. They weren’t so lucky in the third period.
“They took it to us right away in the third, and we weathered the storm until the power play we got,” Bruno said.
Mission City scored two goals in the third within three minutes of each other, tying the game at 2-2 and forcing an overtime period.
“We blew a 2-0 lead going into the third, and we had to score in overtime to win it. It was a good exciting game for sure,” Bruno noted.
“It was one of those old clichés, do or die stuff,” he added.
And “do” they did. Steelers forward Ian Prevost scored the game-winning goal at about midway through overtime to make it 3-2 and force a Game 5. Bruno said he was happy with the way the boys played on Wednesday, especially goalie Cole MacInnes, whose been the anchor for the team throughout the playoffs.
“We paid attention to the little details, and our goaltender played the way he’s played the entire playoffs. He struggled the first three games, but he was really focused, and it was a great bounce-back game for him,” Bruno said.
Looking forward, Bruno admits it won’t be easy. The Steelers have to win the remaining three games in a row to secure the PJHL title, starting with Saturday’s game in Mission.
“We’ll be working on our power play,” he said. “Our neutral zone play was something we talked about, (and) last night before the game we implemented a couple of things, and I thought the kids responded really well to it, but we’ll work on it in the next couple days in practices and then hopefully come back and win Game 5, 6 and 7.”
The Steelers face off against Mission City on Saturday, March 26 at the Mission Leisure Centre. The puck drops at 6:30 p.m.
