It’s Grandview against Richmond, again.
The two Pacific Junior Hockey League foes will meet in the opening round of junior B playoffs this Thursday following the Grandview Steelers’ 5-0 victory over the Delta Ice Hawks in the final game of the regular season at the Burnaby Winter Club on Sunday.
Cole MacInnes kicked out all 40 Ice Hawks shots to post his second shutout of the season and earn the game’s first star.
“From the beginning of the season, the No. 1 thing we had is our defence,” said MacInnes after the game.
Grandview jumped on the Ice Hawks early, scoring three times on the team’s six first-period shots, including Lucas Santucci’s shorthanded marker midway through the frame.
Sean Northey also scored later in the period, as did Peter Matthews, with the first of his two counters.
Matteo Belmonte fired a wrister to the back of the cage on a power play late in the game to complete the Steelers’ scoring.
The win came following a 3-3 draw against league champion North Vancovuer Wolf Pack the night before.
“Pride-wise we wanted that third-place victory. It’s also good to keep that streak going into the playoffs,” MacInnes added.
Grandview will open its best-of-seven playoff in Richmond on Thursday at 7 p.m.
The two teams are back at the Richmond Arena for Game 2 on Saturday at 5:45 p.m. The Steelers will host games three and four at the winter club, beginning this Sunday at 4 p.m.
“Defence wins championships. We just got to keep doing what we’ve been doing defensively,” MacInnes said.
