The New Westminster Salmonbellies got themselves back in the B.C. Junior Lacrosse League final.
The regular season junior A champions rebounded from back-to-back losses for the first time this year, to score a 13-8 victory over the Adanacs at the Coquitlam Sports Centre on Monday.
The win evened the best-of-seven playoff final series at two games apiece.
The game was marred in the final period with a total of 320 minutes in penalties, including 196 to the host Coquitlam club.
Last weekend, New West lost 11-6 in Coquitlam on Friday and 11-7 at home the following night.
In both games, New West started strong but failed to hold onto the advantage in the later periods.
But this time New West’s early lead stuck.
Adam Dickson started things off at the one-minute mark, with his first of two goals in the opening period, finishing off a three-way pass play from Connor Robinson and Josh Byrne.
The Salmonbellies built up a 6-1 first-period lead, despite being outshot 21-16 in the period.
Eric Penney got the start and was solid in the cage, stopping 36 shots before being sent to an early shower following a five-minute high sticking call.
After that, all hell broke loose.
Nearly 350 minutes in penalties were whistled down, including more than 210 to Coquitlam, as the game degenerated into a series of fights, including an all-out brawl at 15:12 of the third period that resulted in seven player ejections.
Game 3 was a wakeup call, said Byrne, who led all scorers with four goals and four assists. “It’s a long series. … We were not as focused as we should have been. We had to dig down.”
Connor Robinson added a hat trick for the ’Bellies, while Johnny Pearson, Jakob Doucet and Anthony Malcom chipped in with a pair of goals apiece.
“We have to keep pushing focus. We have to be ready to ride the waves of the game,” Byrne added. “You just have to keep a level head.”
In Game 2, the junior ‘Bellies jumped out to a 3-0 lead, all on power-play goals, before Coquitlam pickup James Rahe broke the ice late in the period.
The A’s then quickly erased New West’s 4-1 advantage with five unanswered goals in the middle frame, led by a Wesley Berg hat trick. Berg led all players with four goals and seven points as Coquitlam continued to roll in the third period, chalking up a 5-2 advantage.
In Game 3, New West’s big guns, Byrne, Malcom, Brett Dobray and Pearson, all collected a goal in the first five minutes of play.
But Tyler Pace helped Coquitlam rally to tie with the first two of his three goals in a late first-period push.
Delta pickup Eli McLaughlin led all scorers with two goals and seven points, including the game-winner in a five-goal third-period finish for the A’s.
Berg also had a big night with two goals and three assists.
Pete Dubenski was solid again in goal for Coquitlam, improving on Friday’s 34-save performance with 38 stops at Queen’s Park.
New Westminster starter Ross Bowman had just 18 saves in the Salmonbellies cage on Saturday.
Game 5 is back at Queen’s Park tonight (Wednesday) at 8 p.m. Game 6 is scheduled for Friday in Coquitlam. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
