Generals rally past Caribous 3-2

The Bentley Generals, in their first game of the 2015 Allan Cup Canadian senior hockey championship, twice overcame one-goal deficits to hand the homestanding Clarenville Caribous a 3-2 setback Tuesday night.

Torrie Dyck’s goal at 15:41 of the third period stood as the winner for the Generals, playing their first game of the six-team event. It was the Caribous’ first loss following a 5-1 win over New Brunswick on opening day Monday.

The game was a rematch of the 2013 Allan Cup final, in which the Generals blanked the Caribous 30 in Bentley, just outside Red Deer, Alta..

The Monday night event was a quick, hard-hitting affair, much to the delight of the sold-out crowd at the Eastlink Events Centre.

Taggart Desmet and Cam Maclise also scored for the winners. Stuart MacRae and Dustin Russell replied.

After a scoreless first period, MacRae opened scoring at 9:12 of the second when Mark Lee pounced on a Generals turnover and fed MacRae, who scored his first goal of the tournament.

But the partisan crowd didn’t have long to enjoy the lead as the Generals responded just 56 seconds later when Desmet potted the equalizer.

Hometown product Russell put the Caribous out front again 6:06 into the third period, banging home a rebound off a Matt Thomey shot. The Generals showed why they’re a perennial Allan Cup contenders, however, coming back with the tying goal at 13:46 when Maclise banged in a shot that rebounded off the glass, setting the stage for Dyck.

Dustin Butler made 33 saves for the Generals. Jason Churchill stopped 34 pucks in the Caribous’ net. The Caribous are off today. Quarter-finals start Thursday.