The Capitals completed a three-game sweep of the Pownal Red Devils with a 5-0 home-ice victory, and the Maroons needed double overtime to edge the Kings County Kings 6-5 in a must-win game.
The Kings now lead the best-of-five quarter-final series 2-1, with Game 4 at the O’Leary Community Sports Centre on Tuesday at 8:15 p.m.
The Caps now await the conclusion of the other series for their opponent in the semifinals to be determined.
Caps 5 Red Devils 0
At Credit Union Place, Carson MacKinnon (2), Jeremy McKenna (1-2), Brodie MacArthur (1-1) and Austin Woodard contributed goals. Logan Vandervelden, Tayler Read and Lucas Beaulieu added assists.
McKenna’s goal at 11:43 of the first period opened the scoring, and was all the offence required for Capitals goaltender Evan Richard, who went on to post the shutout.
The Capitals built period advantages of 2-0 and 4-0.
The Red Devils, who picked up a 10-minute misconduct, were assessed eight of the game’s 15 minor penalties.
Maroons 6 Kings 5
At the Cavendish Farms Wellness Centre in Montague, Braydon Arsenault (2), Colton Chaisson (1-1), Brydon Smith (1-1), Issac Knox and Brendan Shea scored for the Maroons. Daniel McWilliams, TJ Shea, Alex Morrissey, Chance Petrie and Silas Handrahan chipped in with assists.
Hunter McIntyre (1-2), Jarrett King (1-1), Edwin Jenkins (1-1), Matt MacLaren and Blake Jamieson replied for the Kings. Jesse Annear (2), Connor MacIntyre and Dallas Farrell were credited with assists.
