Posted: Mar 15, 2025
March 15th, 2025 - Playoff Game 1
Like The Empire Strikes Back, the sequel was better than the original as the Briercrest Clippers dispatched the visiting Red Deer Kings in dominant fashion after the guests squeaked out a narrow double-overtime win the night before. With the 5-0 victory, the Clippers tied up the series at one game apiece and more importantly made a statement to the defending champs that they are resilient and expect to win every night.
Dominik Tmej had to be sharp early as the Kings had their best scoring opportunity just seconds into the game. Reagan Poncelet made a sliding shot-block to help the home team weather some pressure in the opening moments. From there, the Clippers took over, starting with a smart play by Austin Arsenault- intentionally putting a low shot off the goalie's pad that Colton Aikens fired home on the rebound. Ethan Lindsay was a force all night and he out-muscled a defender and helped get the puck to Campbell Ens in the slot. He wired it past Kristian Lyon and the hosts took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.
Red Deer had their best opportunity of the evening to get back in the game with an early powerplay in the second period, but it was a patient pass by Poncelet to spring Brandon Kelly for a short-handed goal and full control of the game. With things starting to get out of reach, there was more physicality on both sides and the teams traded powerplay opportunities. Lyon was sharp for the Kings while Lucas Lapalm stood out on the penalty kill for the Clippers. Ethan Lindsay once again made a great play to set up Aikens for his second of the night as time wound down in the middle frame and Briercrest took a 4-0 lead into the final twenty minutes.
The scorekeepers had to use 5-point font to fit all of the penalties on the gamesheet as the intensity ramped up throughout the third period with several players receiving game misconduct penalties. Reagan Poncelet added a late fifth goal and the celebration was on as Tmej earned a 42-save shutout and the Clippers evened the best of five series.
"Good teams don't lose twice in a row," remarked Briercrest's assistant captain Jeridyn Loewen after the game. "We've built a lot of momentum... we need to stay consistent and do the same thing."
Campbell Ens added his thoughts on Tmej's outstanding performance: "He's the foundation of this team and probably our best player."
Ty Ettinger was awarded player of the game for Red Deer, while Colton Aikens took the honours for Briercrest. Game three is Sunday afternoon at 2:00, and the teams will head to Red Deer next weekend for games 4 and (if necessary) 5.
Sam & Jeremy Demoskoff