The Northwest Giants had their B.C. major midget hockey post season cut short by the South Island Royals last week.
The B.C. league runner-up dropped Game 3 of the best-of-three first round playoff 2-1 in overtime to the upstart Royals at the Burnaby Winter Club on Sunday.
The Burnaby-based Giants held a precarious 1-0 lead for most of the contest – on a short-handed, dump-in goal from captain Keegan Jones that took a lucky bounce past the Island keeper.
But South Island’s Cam Thompson erased the deficit with less than four minutes left in the game to send the deciding game into a third consecutive overtime.
Kayden Peck got the upset winner after seven minutes of extra time.
For the goal-challenged Giants it was shades of things to come.
The Giants were just the sixth highest scoring club in the 11-team major midget league this season, averaging less than four goals per outing over the 40-game season. In comparison, South Island scored six more times but had eight less victories than did the Giants.
"That was one of our biggest issues this season," said Giants head coach Clint Thornton, who struggled to field a healthy lineup for most of the year.
In fact, the Giants played just three games all season with a healthy 20-man roster, while forced to play 50-affiliate man games this year.
"It was a tough year, but to finish in second place with these types of challenges was a complement to the players," Thornton added.
The Royals gave notice in Game 1 they were not going to go down easily in the quarter-finals.
South Island, the seventh-place finishers during the regular season, took a two-goal lead on a pair of second-period goals less than three minutes apart and then prevailed in OT to take the opening game 3-2 at the winter club on March 6.
The Giants got single goals from Desi Burgart and Carter Stephenson, with the game-tying counter in the late in the third period.
In Game 2, the Giants got off to a better 2-0 start, with goals from Mateo Coltellaro and Josh Latta, before the Royals drew even with a pair of counters in the final frame.
Nash Dabb got the game-winner for the Giants early in overtime.
The Royals move on to the semifinals against the regular season champion Cariboo Cougars.
Cariboo had a tough time in its quarter-final as well, finishing off eighth-place Fraser Valley in three games.
The Greater Vancouver Canadians pulled off a mild upset, downing fourth-place Okanagan Rockets in Kelowna in straight games.
The Northeast Chiefs scored a total of 12 goals to down Valley West 2-0 in the other quarter-final series.
For Thornton, he'll get ready for the Giants' spring camp in May and the search for that elusive balance of goal scoring and players who can move the puck, he said.
