Wednesday April 5(Semi finals)

J.Provost-Blais, D.Provost-Jarry and K.Kuczmarski carry Altius past Legacy

(6)Altius vs Legacy(4) Game 1

A sluggish start for the Altius just didn’t matter in the end. T.Bozinakis and P.Musto got the Legacy on board in the first period, and A.Ekonomakis was sound stopping the few shots he faced. The Altus didn’t appear to be overly concerned with the loaded talent they have up front. For them , it was just about getting the next goal knowing that more would follow. That moment occurred early in the second period due to a power play opportunity where D.Provost-Jarry made the most with his chance. Up until that point, Legacy was doing a good job at keeping the Atlius honest. Then, the big guns took over and the Altius momentum started to trickle down their line up. The game would be tied 3-3 after two frames, but you sensed that the tides were tilting in favour of the Altius. J.Provost-Blais was just getting warmed up after tying the game late in the second period. Once the final frame hit, Legacy had no answers on how to slow him down. The next three goals in only a four minute span came because of J.Provost-Blais’s ability to take over a match. The forward added two tallies to complete his hat trick along with an assist to set up D.Provost-Jarry’s second. In that equation, K.Kuczmarski was there behind the scenes setting up four goals.  Now that Legacy understand fully on why they lost, some adjustments will need to be made in next weeks game if they plan on extending the series.

P.Karvouriaris couldn’t be stopped striking 5 times, Punishers out last Azzuri in game 1

(9)Punishers vs Azzuri(5) Game 1

To think that a major reason why the Azzuri dropped this game was because of their own power play. Sure they were down 2-1, but rather than taking the opportunity to level, they found themselves down by three instead by giving up two shorthanded goals in only twenty seconds. Maybe they haven’t gotten the memo to be extremely aware when C.Gingras and P.Karvouriaris are on killing the penalty. As they have often proved in the past, the two headed monsters are just as lethal when playing shorthanded.  Speed, anticipation and being strong on the ball led to a pair of quick tallies by P.Karvouriars’s which were set up by C.Gingras. The first period had barley ended, and P.Karvouriaris already bagged a hat trick with the help of Gingras’s three assists. One would think that the Punishers would run away with this contest just on sheer reputation. At one point, they led 7-3 early in the third period with game seemingly in the bag. Not to be outdone however, the Azzuri stuck with it, and got rewarded when A.Ponzo and C.Chirola narrowed the gap to only two goals. With still over six minutes remaining, nothing was sealed as the Azzuri continued to apply pressure. The Punishers knew that nothing was yet settled and started to be more engaged trying to slow down the momentum. Eventually, they capped off the win thanks to their sharp shooter P.Karvouriaris, who put the final seal with his fifth of the game.

The SalumVino player of the night goes to Joel Provost-Blais of the Altius. Legacy isn’t an easy out, and it will require something significant to defeat them. In tonight’s case, J.Provot-Blais was remarkable especially in the third period when it mattered the most. With the game dead evened at three goals apiece, the highly skilled forward did it nearly on his own collecting three points in only four minutes.