GRIMSBY (Feb. 28) — The Glanbrook Rangers had their post-season win streak stopped at eight as they dropped a 2-1 decision to the Grimsby Peach Kings in the opening game of their South Bloomfield Division final series. The Peach Kings, meanwhile, kept their perfect playoff record intact as they notched their ninth straight victory.
In a series that pits two teams that are so evenly matched as to almost be indistinguishable, the competitive difference is often made by some specialized component of the game such as goaltending or special teams and that was the case in this clash between archrivals. The shots on goal were virtually even and five-on-five goals cancelled each other out, with each team collecting one.
The deciding factor was that Grimsby was able to score one power-play goal on their five opportunities, while the Rangers, also given five chances with the man-advantage, came up empty.
Jacob Balca opened the scoring for Grimsby on the power play at 15:36 of the first period, then after a scoreless second frame, Brendan Kowaleski increased the Peach Kings’ margin to 2-0 at 3:20 of the third. Joel Wallace finally got Glanbrook on the board at 17:11 with his second goal of the post-season, but Grimsby held on the rest of the way for the triumph.
Matt Lukic made 33 saves for Glanbrook, while Riley Maskell turned aside an equal number of shots in the Grimsby net. The second game of the series goes Wednesday, Mar. 4 at 7:30 p.m. at Glanbrook Arena.
NOTES: Glanbrook has gone 1-for-17 (5.88 per cent) on the power play in their past five games, including their four-game sweep of Hagersville in the second round, a marked difference from their first-round mark of 9-for-30 (30 per cent) against Niagara …. Grimsby has been marginally better over their last five games with a 2-for-20 (10 per cent) mark … Noah Bollert recorded an assist on Wallace’s goal to remain atop the PJHL playoff scoring table with 11 goals and 10 assists.