After losing 6-0 and 5-2 in Games 1 and 2, respectively, the Creston Valley Thunder Cats bounced back with a 7-2 win over the Kimberley Dynamiters on home ice in Game 3 of round one of the Teck Cup playoffs.
Creston's first goal came early, less than a minute into the first period courtesy of Liam Munro, and the onslaught continued throughout the game.
Dynamiters head coach Derek Stuart said his team took too many "undisciplined penalties," and added "Creston's top guys were much better than ours."
After Munro's early goal, Sanjay Chalupiak scored twice on power plays before the first period ended. The only goal of the second period came from Dryden Harding, also on the power play.
Danik Reeves would score one of Kimberley's two goals of the night early in the third, also on a power play, but Creston answered back five minutes later with a goal from Ti Regan, followed soon after by a power-play goal from Brendan Kindlein. Jace Litoski would score Creston's seventh goal, with Kimberley local Isaac Sommer making it 7-2 with seconds left in the third.
An astounding total of 27 individual penalties were dished out on Monday night.
Creston goalie Brendan Smith was another factor in the Thunder Cat's success. Creston was out shot by 11 goals, but Smith managed to stop 34 of the 36 shots that came his way.
Game 4 is back in Creston on Tuesday, March 4, starting at 7:30 p.m.
