It wasn’t the tone the Grandview Steelers hoped to set in Game 1 of their semifinal best-of-seven showdown with the Delta Ice Hawks.
Tired legs and a couple players absent with illness did the Burnaby-based Steelers no favours in Wednesday’s opening battle, as Delta controlled the tempo much of the night en route to a 4-1 victory.
A goal in each of the first two periods propped the Ice Hawks to a 2-0 lead, while they effectively held Grandview’s balanced attack in check much of the night at the Ladner Leisure Centre.
Steelers general manager Aldo Bruno said that despite some sluggish play, a few breaks in the first period could have cued up a different result.
“(Delta) is a typical hard-nosed team; they play aggressive and, frankly, we just were not ready for them,” Bruno said of the effort. “Coming off a seven-game series we didn’t have our legs, but on our first powerplay in the first we hit a crossbar, and a few minutes later we hit the post. It could have been 2-0 for us.”
Instead, Jonathan Stein scored for the Hawks with 50 seconds left in the period. Before the second frame was three minutes old, Cam Cuthbert doubled Delta’s lead.
The home team upped it to 3-0 when Gary Dhaliwal scored midway through the third off a powerplay, and it wasn’t until a five-minute boarding penalty, assigned to Delta’s Brad Crompton for his illegal check on forward Nico Bruno, that Grandview put one past goalie Jordan Naylor.
Keito Lee’s powerplay tally gave the visitors some life, but while they came close to adding a second marker, an empty-net goal locked up the 1-0 series lead for Delta.
“(Delta) totally dominated the game and was the best team by far. I think a couple days off (until Game 2) will do us good. For us to do well we have to move our feet, use our speed,” said Bruno.
Matteo Paler-Chow did his best to keep his team in it, stopping 32 shots. Grandview fired just 20 shots at the Delta net. Bruno said the onus is on the Steelers to win at home, and at least once in Delta.
“We definitely have to steal one (in Ladner), but I have confidence in our guys,” he said. “We can play with them.”
The best-of-seven series continues Sunday, 4 p.m. at the Burnaby Winter Club. Game 3 goes Tuesday in Ladner, while Game 4 goes March 8, 7 p.m., in Burnaby.
If the series stretches longer, Game 5 is March 10 in Ladner, Game 6 on March 12 in Burnaby, while a seventh and deciding game would be played March 14 in Ladner.
