Season on the line
Metros face elimination again as Red Wings have an opportunity to win another IJHL title on home ice
The Sherwood-Parkdale A&S Scrap Metal Metros are looking to spoil the party once again.
After extending their season with a 5-2 road win Sunday night, the Metros face another must-win situation against the Arsenault’s Fish Mart Western Red Wings at the Evangeline Recreation today at 7:30 p.m.
The Red Wings lead the best-of-seven Island Junior Hockey League championship series 3-1 and can win the Abram-Village-based franchise’s fourth provincial junior B title in a row.
“Our backs were against the wall, and we have a handful of guys in there who were staring possibly their last game of competitive hockey in the face," said Metros defenceman Jason Poley. “We didn’t want to go home yet and got it done.”
The Metros will need to duplicate that performance to force a Game 6 at Eastlink Centre in Charlottetown on Saturday night.
SIMPLE PLAN
Metros head coach Craig MacLauchlan said his team’s game plan for Game 5 is simple.
In Game 4, the Metros combined strong goaltending from Matt Jelley, timely scoring, hard work and a willingness to sacrifice their bodies to win battles along the boards and block shots.
“It will be the same thing again – play hard, greasy and try to smother them as much as we can,” said MacLauchlan.
“We need to score on our opportunities, limit our mistakes, so they don’t score.”
After playing from behind in the first three games, the Metros jumped out to a 2-0 lead early and never trailed on Sunday night.
“That is huge,” said MacLauchlan.
“Coming from behind is
never easy, but if you can get out and get that first one, it is big.”
Sunday’s result not only ended the Red Wings’ IJHL record-setting 24-game winning streak. It also restored the Metros’ confidence, especially after losing Games 2 and 3 on home ice at the Eastlink Centre.
The only other two losses for the Red Wings this season both came at the hands of the Metros: 4-2 on Nov. 25 and 7-5 on Nov. 4.
“There were a lot more smiles around the room after (Sunday’s) game,” said Poley in an interview following Game 4.
“It’s nice to see we can beat
them and know we are right there with them if we play well.”
ROAD TO THE FINAL
The Red Wings advanced to the final with a four-game sweep of the Hynes Paving Eastern Maniacs.
Meanwhile, the Metros overcame 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to eliminate the Kensington Moase Plumbing and Heating Vipers in the other best-ofseven semifinal series.
“(Sunday’s) game was how we played against Kensington,” said MacLauchlan. “In the first three games, we were trying to find that stride again, and hopefully, we can carry that forward.”