73's, Canadiens all even in Stobbs final
Four games into the series and nothing has been settled.
The Essex 73's evened things up in the Bill Stobbs Division final in the Provincial Junior Hockey League on Sunday.
With perhaps their most dominant performance of the series, the second-seeded 73's beat the top-seeded Lakeshore Canadiens 3-1 before a crowd of 1,131 at the Essex Centre Sports Complex.
“I think the disappointment is the lack of the engagement and effort level,” Canadiens head coach Anthony Iaquinta said. “In a final, it's not too often a team shows up and there's no real desire.”
The best-of-seven series is now tied at 2-2 with Game 5 set for Tuesday at the Atlas Tube Centre in Lakeshore.
“It can't be much tighter than it's been,” 73's head coach Tony Piroski said. “It's been a great series.”
On Sunday, the 73's dominated the shot clock with a 41-23 advantage and converted 2-of-8 chances on the power play while the Canadiens failed to produce a goal in eight power play chances while allowing a short-handed goal.
“I thought we played pretty well,” Piroski said. “Probably the most complete game we've played.”
After a scoreless opening period, the 73's jumped to a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes with Seth Martineau opening the scoring on a five-on-three advantage for the 73's.
Captain Gabe Piccolo pushed the lead to 2-0 with a short-handed goal a little more than two minutes later.
Julian Signac got the Canadiens to within 2-1 with just under four minutes to play in regulation, but Piccolo fed Kale Couvillon for a power-play goal into an empty Lakeshore net with 68 seconds to play to seal the game.
“At the end of the day, it's just one game,” Iaquinta said. “You can lose by seven or win by seven. A loss is a loss and it just makes (Game 5 on) Tuesday that much bigger and you have to respond.”
Sunday's game marked the first time that a game in the series has not been decided by a single goal, which included Lakeshore's 2-1 win at home on Friday in Game 4.
“It's two pretty good teams and, like I've said before, it's who gets a bounce here or a break there,” Piroski said.
Canadiens goalie Boe Piroski finished with 38 saves in Sunday's game while the 73's got a 22-save performance from Wyatt Sloetjes.