The Campbellton Tigers are moving on to the Eastlink North Division Final after a thrilling 3-2 double overtime win on home ice on Friday to eliminate the West Kent Steamers in six games.
The Tigers struck first in the series with a 4-2 win in Game 1 in Grand-Bouctouche. Zakary Savoie and Owen Underhill (powerplay) opened the scoring for Campbellton in the 2nd period. Spencer Caines scored on the powerplay at 16:00 of the 2nd period to cut the lead in half, and Jake Beardsmore had an unassisted goal at 4:53 of the 3rd period to tie things at 2. Sam Hope restored the Tigers’ lead at 9:42 and Van Sawlor capped the win with an empty net goal at 19:25. Adam Rouleau made 34 saves in the win, while Olivier Dallaire stopped 24 of 27 shots in the loss.
In Game 2 back in Campbellton, the Tigers struck first as Kyle MacIntyre scored at 5:11 of the 1st period, but Travis Badcock tied things up at 19:41. In the 2nd period, Campbellton built a 4-1 lead as Ben Nicholson scored at 3:07, Hope added a powerplay goal at 9:20, and Simon Duguay made it 4-1 with a goal at 10:02. Dallaire was pulled after allowing four goals in fifteen shots and Victor Régis took over in goal for the Steamers. Damon Englehutt cut the lead to two with a powerplay goal at 13:20 and Caines scored at 14:18 to make it a 4-3 Campbellton lead heading to the 3rd. Shots were just 7-6 in favour of West Kent in the final period, but neither team scored so the Tigers took a 2-0 series lead with a 4-3 victory. Régis stopped all eight shots he faced in the game, while Rouleau made 23 saves for the win.
West Kent cut into the Campbellton series lead in Game 3, using a big 3rd period for a 7-3 win on home ice. Campbellton again scored first, this time on a powerplay goal from Underhill. Cam White tied things up with a goal for the Steamers at 9:07 of the 2nd period, but Thomas Larouche restored the Campbellton lead just five seconds later. Brandon Clarke made it a 2-2 game with a goal at 11:50, but the Tigers answered quickly with a goal from Mathis Guevin at 12:29. Spencer Caines had powerplay goals at 6:31 and 8:03 of the 3rd period to give West Kent their first lead of the game at 4-3. Jerome Nadeau made it 5-3 at 10:21 and Englehutt scored at 11:08 to put West Kent up 6-3. Adam Rouleau was pulled after allowing six goals on 37 shots and Nathan Mills entered in goal for the Tigers. Caines would finish off the hat trick at 16:56 to round out the scoring. Régis made seventeen saves for the win, while Mills stopped two of the three shots he faced.
With a little bit of momentum on their side, West Kent looked to tie the series in Game 4 in Campbellton. Xavier Roy scored a powerplay goal at 14:17 of the 1st period to give the Steamers a 1-0 lead and Caines doubled that with a goal at 4:38. The Tigers struck quickly to tie it with goals from Hope at 5:24 and Underhill at 6:37. Englehutt game West Kent a 3-2 lead with a powerplay goal at 19:42. Zachary Boudreau made it 4-2 with a goal at 5:52, and Englehutt scored his second goal of the game at 12:54 to finish off a 5-2 win for the Steamers and tie the series at two. Régis made 29 saves in the victory, while Rouleau had 39 saves for Campbellton.
The Tigers burst out of the gate on the road in Game 5 with a goal from Larouche at 1:45 of the 1st period. Near the end of the 1st period, Underhill and Nicholson scored less than two minutes apart to give Campbellton a 3-0 lead. Roy scored for West Kent at 4:18 of the 2nd period, but Campbellton tacked on goals from Hope and Alexis Jacques in the 3rd period for a 5-1 win and a 3-2 series lead. Rouleau again made 39 saves, this time for the victory, while Régis had 29 saves in the loss.
Rouleau and Dallaire were busy in Game 6 back in Campbellton as each time had 47 shots. Underhill scored at 16:22 of the 1st period to give the home side a 1-0 lead. White and Nadeau had goals at 5:37 and 6:04 of the 2nd period to give West Kent the lead heading to the 3rd. Larouche found the tying goal at 6:52 of the 3rd period to force overtime. Midway through double overtime, Nicholson was sprung free and beat Dallaire for a 3-2 win for the Tigers and a 4-2 series victory.