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Dynamiters lose first two games of second round of playoffs to Fernie Ghostriders

Round two of the playoffs began with two losses to the Fernie Ghostriders and now the Kimberley Dynamiters have a steep task ahead of them if they want to extend their battle for the Teck Cup, as they head to Fernie for games three and four.

Round two of the playoffs began with two losses to the Fernie Ghostriders and now the Kimberley Dynamiters have a steep task ahead of them if they want to extend their battle for the Teck Cup, as they head to Fernie for games three and four.

Dynamiters head coach Derek Stuart is optimistic however, and although he knows it’s a tough situation to be in, he likes his team’s chances heading into the Ghostriders’ barn, as the team has had a lot of success there throughout the regular season.

READ MORE: Dynamiters dominate sold-out Christmas Classic with two wins over rivals Fernie

“I think our team is better suited to play in a rink like Fernie’s to be honest with you,” Stuart said. “We’re big and strong and physical and I think it’s going to be a good change for us to go and play in a smaller rink where we can maybe get bodies on some of their guys a little bit easier.

“We’re very excited about going into Fernie’s rink, it’s not an intimidating rink for us anymore.”

Friday’s outcome, a 4-0 loss, was not what the team was anticipating, and they perhaps were overly confident heading into the game, whereas Fernie was coming in with a lot of confidence having defeated the Columbia Valley Rockies, the division’s best team, in game six of round one.

“Obviously it’s a hard rink to play in, with the rivalry and both organizations, there’s always a little extra that goes into these games,” said Ty Valin, head coach of the Fernie Ghostriders.

“I thought we were prepared to go in game one and ultimately came out firing and had some early success in that game and just kind of continued on throughout game one.”

He said his team has turned a corner since Christmas and they’ve made some changes down the stretch, adding some personnel and “getting the buy in” from all 10 guys on the ice,

Though the Nitros actually out shot the Ghostriders 29 to 27 in game one, Stuart said they didn’t have many good scoring chances and thought it to be a fairly “boring” game and said his team gave Fernie the game.

Fernie’s Eli Neilsen opened the scoring on a power play early in the first. Liam Fitzgerald nabbed his third goal of the post season two and a half minutes into the second, with Cole Fournier’s goal making it 3-0 heading into the third.

Kort Kisinger scored his sixth goal of the playoffs just 15 seconds into the third, putting the final nail in the coffin.

“As the game went on Kimberley had a good push as well and to give them credit, it’s not like they mailed it in or anything, they battled hard and competed,” Valin said.

Stuart thought both teams looked better in game two. Fernie got things going early with goals from Jarod Sigouin and Gaege Johnson in the first three minutes of play.

Kimberley managed to fire back with goals from Jake Watson and Kasey Miller and the game was tied at two goals a piece after the first period.

Christian Mealey set up Cash Regan with a great pass in front of the net in the second period and gave Kimberley their first lead of the series and the Nitros held onto that lead heading into the third.

“Tonight we came out strong and they pushed back again and they pushed really hard tonight and at the end of the day we got the job done in the third and now we’re going back home,” Valin said.

Lucas Desjarlais tied tings up six minutes into the third and Ethan MacDuff scored the game winner at the 11-minute mark. He would then pop one into an empty net to make it a 5-3 win for the Ghostriders.

Stuart said the Dynamiters’ defensive zone was what cost them the game.

“We had plenty of opportunities and then our defensive zone is just not good enough the last two games,” he said. “We’re not paying enough attention to where we’re supposed to be, we’re not battling enough, we were really good tonight outside of our blue line, but inside our own zone it was not acceptable tonight.”

While the Ghostriders are clearly in a good place heading into games three and four on their home turf, Valin knows it’s far from over.

“It is a long way to go still, we’ve only won two games,” he said. “It’s a long series and there’s two more wins that are required to move on and at the end of the day we’re going to have fun with this one and start focusing on game three tomorrow.”

Game three is on Monday, Mar. 6 and game four is Tuesday, Mar. 7 at the Fernie Memorial Arena. If required, game five will be on Friday, Mar. 10 back in Kimberley.



paul.rodgers@kimberleybulletin

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