Carnduff @ Yellow Grass

In the regular season, the Red Devils and Wheat Kings were both dominant teams. They were seperated by only two games at the end of the season, Carnduff winning 13 of 18 and Yellow Grass winning 15. Both games between the teams were close, with Yellow Grass taking a 4-3 win and a 4-2 2 win with an empty netter.

In the first period, less than two minutes in, the scoring would begin. Blake McMillen, the defenseman, would take the puck up the right side of the ice from his own zone, cross the blue line of the Wheat Kings, then cut left in front of their defence. The cut across the ice would open up the left side of the net, and he'd fire in an easy shot 48 seconds into the game.

Two minutes later, the Wheat Kings would get on the board from their own defensemen in Brad Riege. His centreman, Braden Mellon, would bring the puck down the right side of the ice and drop it back basically on the face-off dot for Riege, and he'd fire the shot passed the league's leading goaltender Cody Dumaine to tie the game.

The period would go on with some chipiness between the teams, but neither team would manage a power play goal. The Wheat Kings would add another to take the lead, Thomas Carleton would score on a similar play to Riege but at a sharper angle and further away from the net with 1:47 showing on the clock.

After 1: 2-1 Yellow Grass

The second period would add a few more penalties for either team, but again the first goal of the period would come at even strength. Carnduff would tie up the game when Barrett Dumaine would send a sharp angle shot at the net to the left side that would bounce off of the pad of Tanner Erickson, and the puck would get bounced on to the stick of Nico Anderson. He'd tap it in to tie the game.

Just after the halfway mark of the period, the Red Devils would retake a lead that was once there's, this time on the power play when Brandon Trask would scoop up a loose puck from behind the net. He'd send it out front across the crease for Cody Moore, and he'd unwind a hard onetimer from the roof to the back of the net.

Two minutes later, Brendon Vertefeuille would tie it up. He was trailing Justin Richter as he brought the puck into the offensive zone and fired a shot in front, forcing a rebound for Vertefeuille to smack in.

After 2: All square at 3

The third period would see tensions boil over, but not before Yellow Grass would get their lead back. Four minutes in, Tucker Neuberger would regain the lead for the Wheat Kings when he found a loose puck in the slot and send it through traffic for the 4-3 score.

Less than a minute later, Mike Onstage would send a pass through the slot for the Wheat Kings looking for the slap shot from Shelby Grey, but it would go behind him and bounce off the boards. Drew Fellner, another defensemen, was skating on the ice after a change and hurried towards the puck as it bounced off the boards, wound up, and fired a shot that surprised everyone in the building including Cody Dumaine, and suddenly the Wheat Kings were up by two.

The back and forth game would continue, slowly forming towards a final push and more and more momentum for the Red Devils, but finally tensions would come to a head. Behind the Wheat Kings net after the play, the gloves would drop between Colby Swayze for the Red Devils and Drew Fellner for Yellow Grass, and both guys would exchange right hands over and over before a final shot from Fellner would land and send both guys down to the ice.

While Yellow Grass' man got the win in the fight, it fired up the Red Devils bench and they would pull their goalie to score when a pass from Nico Anderson would bounce off a skate and find it's way to Trevor Geiger, who whacked at the puck from the slot and hit the back of the net with 1:37 left in the game.

The Red Devils would pull their goalie again after the draw at centre, and they would get a good push in the offensive zone, but the Wheat Kings would clear the puck down the ice, just short of icing, and captain Justin Richter would tap in the empty netter.

FINAL SCORE: Yellow Grass 6 - 4 Carnduff, Yellow Grass leads the series 1-0