Five separate Whaler scorers contributed. Even better, the Pod was only shorthanded three times. White Rock head coach Jason Rogers was pleased with the team’s dedication to staying out of the box.
He elaborated that the coaching staff had analyzed the game tape. In the last seven games before the Grandview contest, he said that the Whalers had taken 42 minor penalties – an average of six a game.
“You’re not winning any play-off series when you’re taking two minors a period,” Rogers pointed out.
‘Forty’ keeps making history
In the first period, the Whalers came out flying. Chris Fortems, the Pod's all-time leading scorer, tucked home a loose puck on the short side of Grandview goalie Ronin Geraghty.
After 20 minutes, the Whalers had 19 shots. Goalie Keegan Maddocks spent more time skating to his crease; the Steelers only tested him twice.
Geraghty's long night
In the middle frame, veteran Whaler centreman Jacob Dorohoy connected on the power play. He scored off a slick feed from defenceman Bryce Margetson.
“We were all over (Grandview) all game with all four lines,” Margetson said.
By the third period, the floodgates opened when the Pod's Sam Dowell, Ewan Rennie and “Big Goal” Cole Svendson all beat Geraghty for a 5-0 lead.
“After that frustrating loss in Richmond [two days earlier] the boys definitely wanted this one badly and it showed on the ice,” Svendson explained.
The only blemish came when Steeler Connor Wetsch broke Maddocks' shut-out bid. The Whaler netminder faced 14 shots and picked up his third win between the pipes.
At press time, the Whalers – with a record of 24 wins, 15 losses, an overtime loss, and an overtime win for 49 points – were still in fourth place in the Shaw Conference, two points behind the Richmond Sockeyes.
