STONEY CREEK ‑ In Saturday night’s must-win Game #5 of the Allan Cup Hockey League finals against the Stoney Creek Generals in Stoney Creek, the Brantford Blast was stopped in its bid for the ACH League championship and the Allan Cup playoffs.
Brantford was ready and looked good in the first period scoring three times while Anthony Marshall held the Generals off the score sheet throughout the first 20 minutes. The Blast outshot the Generals 26-13 in the first period.
Derek Mederios seemed to handcuff General’s goalie with a harmless looking wrist shot. Jamie Walker made it a 2-0 game converting a two-on-one break with Ryan McCarthy.
Cameron Sault picked up a little garbage left at the edge of the Stoney Creek crease to make it a 3-0 lead, putting the Generals’ backs firmly against the wall.
The Generals regrouped between periods and turned the tide on Brantford outshooting the Blast 18-8 in the second period to claw back into the game.
Matt Smith started the Stoney Creek comeback before Jarrett Konkle cut the Brantford lead to 3-2 with at long shot that Marshall wishes he could have another stab at with 12 seconds remaining in the second period.
With the Stoney Creek fans behind them, the Generals tied the game at 3-3, 1:11 into the final frame. It was a successful penalty shot taken by Matt Smith that gave the Generals the lead which they protected until Konkle put the final nail in the Blast coffin with one seconds left.
After finishing the regular season on top, the Generals followed through in the playoffs to take the J. Ross Robertson Cup and will now move on to represent Ontario in the Allan Cup Finals, this year hosted by the South East Prairie Thunder between April 11-16 in Steinbach, Manitoba.
