The Whitecourt Wolverines took a trip to the Ken Bracko Arena in Calgary on Tuesday, April 16, to face off against the Calgary Canucks in game three of the AJHL finals.
The Wolverines maintained a lead for much of the game, but the Canucks rallied back late in the third and won by a score of 5-4.
No goals were scored in the first period as the Calgary Canucks outshot the Whitecourt Wolverines 8-6.
The second period began with a goal from Shayne Tibbles at 2:58 to give the Wolverines a 1-0 lead. Tibbles’ third goal of the postseason was assisted by Dylan Leslie and Colby Browne.
Ty Hipkin tied the game 1-1 for the Canucks with a powerplay goal at 4:38. Gavin Garland and Gavin Schmidt assisted Hipkin’s ninth goal of the playoffs.
Easton Hewson gave the Canucks their first lead of the night with his second goal of the postseason, scored at 6:11. Jack Plandowski and Matthew Paszkiewicz picked up assists on the go-ahead goal.
Joey Melo tied the game 2-2 for the Wolverines at 6:30 with an assist from Travis Verbeek. That was Melo’s fifth goal of the playoffs.
Colby Browne scored his sixth goal of the postseason at 14:12. Jack Franklin and Evan Johnson were credited with assists on the last goal of the period.
At the end of the second period, the Whitecourt Wolverines had outshot the Calgary Canucks 16-13 and took a 3-2 lead into the second intermission.
Colby Browne extended the Wolverines’ lead to 4-2, with his seventh goal of the post-season, at 2:05 in the third period. Dylan Leslie was credited with the assist on what would turn out to be the Wolverines’ last goal of the game.
Julien Gervais scored his seventh goal of the playoffs at 5:35 to begin the Canucks late-game rally. Gervais’ goal was assisted by Matthew Pazkiewicz and Jack Plandowski.
Gavin Schmidt tied the game for the Canucks with an unassisted goal at 16:30. That was Schmidt’s third goal of the post-season.
Then, Chris Kobelka scored the game-winning goal, on the power play at 19:17, to secure the 5-4 win for the Calgary Canucks. Kobelka’s first goal of the post-season was assisted by Ty Hipkin and Gavin Garland.
At the end of the third period the Calgary Canucks had outshot the Whitecourt Wolverines 17-9.
Whitecourt Wolverines goaltender Nicholas Avakyan made 33 saves on 38 shots.
Calgary Canucks goaltender Julian Molinaro made 27 saves on 31 shots in support of the Canucks 5-4 victory.
—
The Calgary Canucks now lead this series 3-0.
Game four will be played on Wednesday, April 17, at the Ken Bracko Arena in Calgary at 7:00 p.m.