Cranbrook, BC – Kootenay ICE forward Cody Eakin had 1 goal and 2 assists in a 3-1 win over the Medicine Hat Tigers, in game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals, in WHL playoff action on Tuesday.
ICE opened the scoring on a 2-man advantage as Cody Eakin at the blueline sent a slap pass to Max Reinhart at the far crease as he scored with a redirection.
Early in the 2nd period the Tigers tied the game 1-1 on the powerplay as Emerson Etem picked up the puck behind the net and tucked it in at the post before the goalie came across the crease. The goal snapped the Nathan Lieuwen’s shutout streak at 97:04.
ICE forward Drew Czerwonka was taken out of the game on a stretcher after he went for a big hit behind the Tigers net and missed the player and had a big collision into the end boards.
ICE took a 2-1 lead as Cody Eakin attacked a Tiger defenseman who couldn’t find the puck in his skates in the high slot and Eakin took the puck away and quickly snapped a shot that went through the goalies legs.
In the 3rd period Cody Eakin dropped a pass to Jesse Ismond at the top of the circle and he stepped into a slap shot that beat the goalie high on the glove side. The puck almost went through the net as it was stuck halfway through the mesh.
Cody Eakin has 3 goals in the series and have all been the game winners.
Eakin has 4 game winners in the playoffs which ties a Franchise for GW in one playoff season. (Matt Walker 00, Zdenek Blatny 00)
Brayden McNabb has set a Playoff Franchsie Record with 15 assists by a defenseman in a playoff season and has tied a record for points in a playoff season by a defenseman (18 Matt Walker 00).
15-year-old Sam Reinhart has joined the ICE for the remainder of the playoffs.
Last year against the ICE the Tigers came back from a 0-2 deficit to win 4 straight games and take the 1st round playoff meeting, but last year games 3 & 4 were in Medicine Hat.
In the 2008 playoffs the ICE won games 1 and 2 in Medicine Hat and went on to win the series in 5 games.
Tigers Cole Grbavac sat out game 2 of a 2-game league suspension.
Former ICE Head Coach Ryan McGill has been told by the Calgary Flames that they will not exercise the option on his contract.
ICE have won a Franchise Record 10 playoff games in a row.
In this years playoffs the Tigers are 5-2 on the road and the ICE are 5-1 at home.
ICE scratches – Brock Montgomery, Steele Boomer, John Neibrandt.
Tigers scratches – Dawson MacAuley (3rd goalie), Tyler Pitlick, Spenser Jensen, Cole Grbavac (suspension).
Quotes:
Tigers – Emerson Etem
On being down 3-0 - “I don’t think we really care. It’s a best of 7 series for a reason and we are obviously going to play every game likes it’s our last.”
On game 3 – “We thought we had a lot of chances tonight that we didn’t put home. We just gotta get more bodies around the net, he’s a great goalie obviously, we just need more shots.”
On ICE – “They’re doing a great job in the neutral zone clogging things up. We did a lot better job tonight and we are going to keep battling.”
ICE – Joe Antilla
On game 3 – “Going into tonight we felt if we played hard and played our way we could come out on top. We did everything we needed to do to get a victory so I’m happy with the outcome.”
On stopping the Tigers – “Vey and Etem have a ton of speed and great hands so we try to force them outside and hit them as much as we can and slow them down.”
On Czerwonka injury – “It’s tough to se a character guy like Drew go down. He an outstanding player and guy on to our team. We were sitting around for a long time and you need to focus in and try to get a few shifts in and get involved in the game again.”
On Game 4 on Wednesday – “If we continue to do what we’ve been doing and guys continue to step up when they need to step up we’ll be successful.”
ICE – Max Reinhart
On his goal – “It was a 5-on-3 and Cody Eakin had it at the middle of the point. I noticed the defenseman wasn’t paying attention to me behind him. I received the pass and just tipped it by his toe.”
On stopping the Tigers – “Really not letting anyone getting any momentum. We’re playing physical and good hard disciplined hockey.”
On game 4 on Wednesday – “We gotta come out and play the same way. We can’t let their top guys get going. They got a lot of skill out there and if you give them anytime their going to make plays. We got to keep grinding it down low and tire them out.”
Game Summary
Kootenay leads the series 3-0.
Game 4 is Wednesday in Cranbrook.
1st Period
1. Kootenay, Reinhart 9 (Eakin, King) 6:33 5-on-3 pp
Penalties – King Ktn (tripping) 1:00, Carr MH (holding) 4:55, Hamilton MH (tripping) 5:46, Kessy MH Fraser Ktn (roughing) 10:43, Ismond Ktn (unsportsmanlike) 13:11, Tochkin MH (interference) 14:07, Ismond Ktn (elbowing) 19:42.
2nd Period
2. Medicine Hat, Etem 10 (Vey, Coyle) 1:13 pp
3. Kootenay, Eakin 6 (Ismond, McNabb) 14:08
Penalties – Carr MH Eakin Ktn (roughing) 4:20, Kessy MH (goalie interference) 10:24, Konan MH (hooking) 18:50.
3rd Period
4. Kootenay, Ismond 2 (Eakin, Leach) 3:35
Penalties – Hamilton MH (interference) 8:46, Reinhart Ktn (roughing) 16:00, Bunz MH (delay of game) 16:49.
Shots on goal by
Medicine Hat - 9 - 5 – 9 = 23
Kootenay - 14 – 11 – 10 = 35
Goal (shots-saves) – Medicine Hat: Tyler Bunz (L 4-5) (35-32) Kootenay: Nathan Lieuwen (L 11-2) (23-22)
Power plays (goals-chances) – Medicine Hat: 1/4 Kootenay: 1/7
Referees – Matt Kirk, Steve Papp
Linesmen – Jeff Jobson, Scott Sharun
Attendance – 2,972