ST. PAUL - The St. Paul Jr. B Canadiens beat the Lloydminster Bandits in four straight wins to claim the best of seven series, and will proceed to the second round of NEAJBHL playoffs.
St. Paul will now take on the Wainwright Bisons. The first game of the series will take place in Wainwright on Feb. 28, and the second game is scheduled for the Clancy Richard Arena, in St. Paul on March 1 at 7:30 p.m.
During their last win on Feb. 18, the Canadiens beat the Bandits 6-4. The game was played at the Lloydminster Civic Centre.
Though both teams were unsuccessful in scoring in the first period, the Canadiens managed to net three in the second. The Bandits’ Mason Grabowski netted the games first goal two minutes into the period. But the Canadiens’ Darwin Morin answered three minutes later, with an assist from Orrie Wood. Wood also netted a goal for the team in the period with assists from Morin and Zialen Watson.
The second period also had Nathan Degraves score during a power play, unassisted. The Bandits closed off the second period with a goal of their own. The teams went into the third period with a score of 3-2.
The third period saw the Bandits tie up the game, but the Canadiens’ Tyler Nypower responded with an unassisted goal, giving the away team the lead. The Bandits would tie it up again, at 4-4, before the Canadiens would make a final push.
Morin collected another goal with just a couple minutes left in the game to take back the lead, along with an assist when Kurtis Labant netted a goal on an empty net with just seconds left in the game.
Goalie Hayden Lyons saved 34 of 38 shots.
As of late last week, the Canadiens still didn’t know which team they would face in the second round, while the first series was still underway for some teams.
“Because we still don't know who we play, we are not preparing for a particular opponent,” head coach Shawn Germain said, at the time. “The biggest thing you try to be is rested and healthy. We should be good in that area, so that's good.”
The Wainwright Bisons finished in second place overall in the league for the 2019-20 season, and are also the NEAJBHL defending champions.
