Saturday night was a pivotal night in the WLA playoffs as the Victoria Shamrocks defeated the Nanaimo Timbermen 11-8 at The Q Centre. With the win, the Rocks now have a 3-0 series lead and will have an opportunity to sweep the T-Men Monday night at Frank Crane Arena in Nanaimo (7:30 PM, WLA TV).
Timbermen captain Brody Eastwood had two goals and an assist and was named the third star of the night. Evan Messenger had three assists for three different goal scorers, his highest point total in a game this postseason. Charles Claxton had arguably his best start in this series, as gave up ten goals on 65 shots. Claxton missed the Shamrocks sixth goal of the night as Nick Finlay deflected it so while things could’ve gone better for the T-Men, no one can blame Claxton for his performance.
No one can blame Tyler Burton as he went an incredible 21 of 24 on the faceoff dot Saturday. Burton is now 87% on faceoffs this series, and it’s been a significant factor in how this series has played out. Jesse King has also been a big factor in this series, getting a hatty and three assists tonight. Graeme Hossack had two goals, including an empty-netter with twenty seconds left in the game to seal the deal for Victoria. Peter Dubenski had 50 saves on 58 shots as he was terrific once again.
Catch Game 4 between the T-Men and Rocks Monday night at Frank Crane Arena in Nanaimo. Tickets can be purchased at the door, and you can watch this game, and every WLA playoff game, live with WLA TV!
