CAMPBELLTON, N.B. — The Summerside D. Alex MacDonald Ford Western Capitals finally know who they will face in the opening round of the Maritime Junior Hockey League playoffs.
The Campbellton Tigers edged the Caps 5-4 on Friday night to clinch third place in the Eastlink North Division. That means the Caps will take on the fourth place Fredericton Red Wings in the best-of-seven division semifinal. Game 1 is scheduled for Eastlink Arena in Summerside on Saturday, March 14, at 7 p.m.
The Capitals, who have clinched first-place overall in the 12-team league and are the second-ranked team in the Canadian Junior Hockey League rankings, will take a 41-7-3 (won-lost-overtime losses), record into Saturday’s regular-season finale in Miramichi against the Timberwolves (12-34-5).
Fredericton (27-19-5) will play its final regular-season game in Campbellton on Sunday afternoon.
Hat trick
Before 1,085 fans at the Campbellton Memorial Civic Centre, Zachery Bennett’s hat trick led Campbellton (29-17-5), which will take on the second-place Edmundston Blizzard (34-9-9) in the other Eastlink North Division semifinal series.
Pascal Valcourt (1-2) and Max McPeak (1-1) also scored for the Tigers. North Bedeque native Coleton Perry added a pair of helpers.
Brodie MacArthur (2-1), Carson MacKinnon (1-2) and Zach Biggar (1-1) countered for the Capitals, who trailed 4-1 late in the second period.
The Tigers held period leads of 1-0 and 4-2.
Winning goaltender Tristan Gray stopped 33 of 37 shots while Dominik Tmej made 30 saves on 35 shots for the Caps.
The game’s three stars were:
1. Zachery Bennett (Tigers), 2. Brodie MacArthur (Capitals), 3. Pascal Valcourt (Tigers).
