Sunday night marked game three of this first-round series between North Vancouver and White Rock and it was the end of back-to-back games between the two teams as the Wolf Pack won 3-2 the following night. The scoring began in the second period and it was the Whalers who led 3-1 after the first 40 minutes of play, but the Wolf Pack scored two goals in the third period to bring the game to overtime before Cole Svendson scored the game-winning goal for the Whalers.
WHALERS UP 2-1 IN FIRST-ROUND SERIES
1st Period:
NO SCORING
Shots: 12-10 White Rock
2nd Period:
WR- Looking to kill time on the penalty-kill Cameron Newson elected to carry the puck into the offensive zone and take a shot on goal, his shot snuck under the glove of Damian Perovic and went in the back of the net. Newson scored the goal and Zachary Sherwin picked up the lone assist 41 seconds into the middle frame.
NV – Devon Bailey spun and fired his first goal of the Playoffs into the net after a Wolf Pack shot resulted in a rebound that went right to his stick. Bailey tied the game at 1 at the 9:04 mark and Kaj Burgess grabbed the apple.
WR – Zachary Sherwin took back the one-goal lead for his Whalers team with his second goal of the playoffs at 17:11. Chris Fortems passed the puck to Sherwin in his zone and Sherwin was able to bring it into the offensive zone and beat Perovic low blocker-side.
WR – After picking up an assist on the Whalers’ second goal of the game Fortems decided that it was his turn to score. With 18:45 gone in the second period Fortems one-timed a shot past Perovic and in for his second of the playoffs. Ewan Rennie and Jayson Beauregard picked up assists.
Shots: 11-10 North Vancouver
3rd Period:
NV – Alex Binette fed a pass from behind the Whalers net out in front to Donovan Griffin who made no mistake by firing his first goal of the playoffs into a rather open cage with 7:43 remaining in the third period.
NV – With only 21 seconds remaining in the third period, Donovan Griffin scored his second goal of the night and the playoffs as he was able to find a loose puck in front of Whalers goaltender Adam Winters that had been sent there thanks to a backhand shot from David Coyle. The goal tied the game at 3 and would result in an overtime period.
Shots: 12-7 White Rock
Overtime:
WR – Ryden Matheson sent the puck in on goal from the right boards and Cole Svendson found the loose puck after it hit bodies in front of Perovic before sealing the game at 3:24 into the overtime period.
Shots: 3-1 White Rock
GAME SUMMARY
Final Score: White Rock 4 – North Vancouver 3
Final Shots: 37 – 29 White Rock
Damian Perovic: 33/37 saves for North Vancouver
Adam Winters: 26/29 saves for White Rock
North Vancouver Power Play: 0/6
White Rock Power Play: 0/7
Next Game: Thursday in White Rock for Game 4 at 7:45 p.m.
NOTES
- Donovan Griffin is the only player on the Wolf Pack with two goals so far in this series and the only player two score twice in the same game for the Pack
- Six different players have scored for North Vancouver over the past three games
- Zachary Sherwin and Chris Fortems are the only players on the Whalers who have scored twice in this series
- Eleven different players have scored for the White Rock Whalers over the past three games