Goaltending is king when it comes to the playoffs.
The Grandview Steelers will embrace that theory after clipping the Richmond Sockeyes 2-1 on Friday, clinching their quarterfinal series with a 4-2 decision.
Cole MacInnes’ 32-save effort may have been part of the win, but it was a big part.
While Grandview coach Aldo Bruno feels the recorded shots in Richmond didn’t reflect the true account on the ice, he doesn’t deny the role that MacInnes played in the series victory.
“I would say Cole was a big reason we won, and he was our MVP in the series,” said Bruno. “Especially early in some of the games we had some breakdowns in our end and he would make a save that helped us settle down.”
Throughout the best-of-seven match-up, Grandview found itself trailing. Richmond held a 2-1 series lead and jumped out to a 3-0 advantage in Game 4, only to have the Steelers peel off six straight goals in what was a major turning point.
But anytime during the past three games, including Friday’s clinching win, a timely tally by a Sockeye sniper could have shifted the momentum back.
That’s where MacInnes came in, time and again, standing down the Richmond shooters and giving the Steelers another chance to climb ahead.
On Friday, Jordan Andrews gave Richmond the lead with a shorthanded tally midway through the first period.
Liam Cumberbirch tied the game with eight minutes to play in the second period. With 1:05 left in the frame, Brandon Volpe put the Steelers in the lead on assists from Timothy Chow and Michael Willms. The defence took it from there.
“It was a fairly even game and when they scored (the shorthanded goal) we just stuck to our gameplan... (Richmond) really put a lot of pressure in our end but we didn’t really bend,” said Bruno.
With an extra skater in the final minute, the Sockeyes mounted one last comeback attempt, but couldn’t put it past MacInnes.
“It was a little frantic in the last minute, they pulled their goalie and were pushing,” the Grandview coach noted. “We had a couple of key face-off wins that helped us clear the zone and that was big.”
Next in Grandview’s crosshairs are the Delta Icehawks, who upset the Tom Shaw Conference regular season champion North Van Wolfpack in six games.
Although the Steelers won five of six regular season encounters, the Icehawks took the most recent one, by a 9-6 margin.
“They were underdogs against (North Van) and no doubt they have a lot of confidence coming off that win,” said Bruno.
The series begins tonight (Wednesday), 7:15 p.m. at the Burnaby Winter Club. It continues Sunday, 4 p.m. in Game 2, also at BWC.
