League News

   

Privateers advance

It was truly an amazing series that ended Friday night in Lantz as for the first time since the 2016-2017 season, Liverpool won an opening round playoff series and on top of that won all four games on the road.  It is believed it was the first time teams in a playoff series won all of their games on the road.  The Privateers while being outshot early, still controlled the play for a good portion of the game and spent considerable time in the East Hants end.  The Penguins did score the game’s opening goal and were in control for the opening two and-a-half minutes as Liverpool took two early penalties before an almost jammed East Hants Sportsplex of nearly 600 people.  The Privateers were two men short for 40 seconds but with 16 seconds remaining in the two-man advantage, Ryan Langlois and Morgan Lake teamed up on a stupendous passing play which put the Pens up 1-0.  It did not last long, in fact only 22 seconds as Malcom Bussey, with the first penalty having been killed off, stole the puck at the Pens blue line and went in alone to tie the game at 1-1.   The Privateers went ahead 2-1 when Carson Gallant on a pass from Malcom Bussey snapped a shot from 10 feet in front Penguins net minder who seemed to be caught somewhat off guard.  Liverpool then went ahead 3-1 when Alec Howie scored the first of his two goals from 20 feet out in the right face-off circle. The Privateers despite leading 3-1 after the first were outshot by the Pens 16-10 but the problem for the Pens was with the exception of two or three of those shots, none of them were quality scoring chances.

 
The second period was only 1:08 old when Ryan Langlois brought the Pens back to within one goal.  Liverpool came right back as Howie stormed down the ice and took an initial shot which Pettipas saved and then kept the rebound out while he was down in the crease.  Liverpool was not to be denied as 2:47 after Langlois’s goal,  Joe Osborne in a rush around the Pens net rammed it home to make it 4-2.  Sam Hope then made a sensational dipsy doodle for the Privateers as he stick-handled around the Penguins defence with awes being echoed in the crowd and shot in close only to be denied by Pettipas.  Aidan Durnford made an initial key save with slightly more than two minutes left in the second as he caught the puck but then lost it before his defence made sure it did not cross the goal line.  In a bang-bang play in front of the Pens net with 1:03 to go in the second, Daniel Kline scored to make it 5-2 Liverpool after forty minutes.
 
In the third period, the Privateers maintained their aggressive forechecking and mid-way through the final period, Howie netted his second of the game with hard skating to the net and with a crowd all over Pettipas, put it in the net to make the final 6-2 and the series final 4-3 in favour of the Privateers.  Liverpool will now play the Capstone Colts for the Fred Fox Division Championship.  East Hants did hold a 35-31 shots advantage for the game.
Mar 18, 2023