YARMOUTH, N.S. — The Yarmouth Mariners are one win away from advancing to the Eastlink South Division final playoff series following a 3-2 overtime win over the Truro Bearcats on March 19 to give the Mariners a 3-0 semi-final series lead.
The Mariners will be looking to sweep the best-of-seven-game series in Truro on Thursday evening, March 21. The Bearcats, not wanting to see their season end, will be seeking a win to prolong the series.
The Mariners have defeated the Bearcats 10 times this season – seven times in the regular season and three times in the playoffs. After a 6-1 win in the first game of this series the next two games have seen very tight scores, with Yarmouth winning Game 2 by a score of 2-1 when Logan Timmons scored the game winner with 14.6 seconds left on the clock.
While that game didn’t go to overtime, Tuesday’s did in a game that saw the Mariners outshoot the Bearcats 44-24. This time rookie Cade Neilson had the game winner.
“It was awesome. You dream of it all the time,” Neilson said after the game when asked about that overtime moment. He credited his teammate Connor Peveril, who assisted on the goal, for making a great play in front of the net. “The boys worked really hard. I think our team should have won. It was lucky it was me that scored the goal because everyone had a lot of chances.”
Asked about the Mariners’ performance in this series, Neilson said, “Every game we come in, we’re not expecting to blow them out. We come in really prepared for each game. I think we’re always keeping our heads up, we’re never getting too down, too low. We’re just trying to battle through every game and hopefully we get the win in the next game and sweep them.”
Neilson – who hails from Nottingham, England – said aside from the excitement of scoring the Game 3 game OT winner, it’s been a great season and a great experience playing with the Mariners, who finished their regular season in first place in their division.
“I think it’s awesome. All of the rookies, we’ve been especially blessed with the vets that we have,” he said. “We’re a team, we’re a family, and this town is just amazing. Everything about this place is amazing so far.”
Yarmouth opened the scoring in Game 3 at 16:43 in the first period on a powerplay goal by Landon Quinney (Brent Broaders). The celebration was short-lived as Truro tied the game just over a minute later at the 17:59 mark off the stick of Cole Julian (Lauchie MacDonald, Carson Lanceleve).
At 8:50 in the second period the Bearcats took a game lead for the first time in this playoff series with Lanceleve (Karter Renouf, Dylan Burton) scoring. The Mariners later responded at 16:38 in the second with another powerplay goal, this one scored by Broaders (Chris Goreham, Shawn Guison.)
The third period saw no scoring, with Mariners goalie Tyler Caseley making eight saves and Truro’s Myles Hektor stopping 11 pucks.
The Mariners found themselves shorthanded early on in OT with an interference call going to Connor Peveril at 0:52, however it was followed by a tripping penalty to Truro’s Renouf at 1:57 in the extra frame. Neither team could capitalize on their man advantage.
The Mariners came close to sealing the win several times in overtime, outshooting Truro 7-1. It was at the 6:42 mark of the 10-minute frame that Neilson was able to score, sending the Mariners and the fans into a cheering frenzy.
Following the game Mariners head coach Laurie Barron gave props to the Bearcats’ play during this series, noting when it comes to Truro teams coached by Shawn Evans they always play tight defensively.
“They’re hard to play against,” Barron said. “I think the first win at home we might have gotten a little bit ahead of ourselves, thinking it was going to be easy and they’ve shown how good they are over the last two games.
“Two of our three goals tonight were on the powerplay and they’re playing very physical, so we have to make them pay when they do cross the line,” he said.
The puck will drop for Game 4 at 7 p.m. at the Rath Eastlink Community Centre in Truro on Thursday, March 21. The game is being televised live on Eastlink Television.
On Wednesday night, March 20, Eastlink is airing Game 3 at 10 p.m. to give people the chance to catch MC Media’s coverage of the game.
A RECAP OF THE MHL CANADIAN TIRE PLAYOFFS THUS FAR
• Eastlink South Division semi-final
Game 1: Yarmouth 6 – Truro 1
Game 2: Yarmouth 2 – Truro 1
Game 3: Yarmouth 3 – Truro 2 (overtime)
Next game: Thursday, March 21
• Eastlink South Division semi-final
Game 1: South Shore 3 – Amherst 2 (double OT)
Game 2: South Shore 6 – Amherst 5 (Double OT)
Game 3: Amherst 5 – South Shore 2
Next game: Thursday, March 21
• Eastlink North Division semi-final:
Game 1: Summerside 3 – St. Stephen 1
Game 2: Summerside 5 – St. Stephen 1
Next game: Thursday, March 21
• Eastlink North Division semi-final:
Game 1: Edmundston 3 – Campbellton 2 (Double OT)
Game 2: Campbellton 4 – Edmundston 2
Game 3: Campbellton 6 – Edmundston 0
Next game: Thursday, March 21
