Drumheller vs. Canmore (Dragons lead 3-1)
The Drumheller Dragons would play catch up most of the night but in the end come away with a 6-5 overtime victory over the Canmore Eagles in game four on Tuesday night.
For the second straight game Christopher Rauckman finished off a 2 on 1 early in the first period (2:28) to give the Dragons a 1-0 lead.
The Eagles would respond as Austen Hebert fired a low shot behind Dragons goaltender Curtis Skip to tie the game at 1-1 at 4:41 of the first period.
The Eagles would take their first lead of the night when Ryley Risling slid a rebound off the end boards into the back of the net at 17:10 and it was 2-1 Canmore after one.
Early in the second the Dragons would tie the game at 2-2 as Matt Saunderson took a point shot that found enough room over Canmore goaltender Cam Barnes at 4:27 mark of the period.
Canmore would retake the lead at 8:19 of the second period as Ryley Risling would score his second of the night on a rebound to make it 3-2 Eagles.
The Eagles would keep coming as Simon Philp scored on the rebound while Canmore was on the power play to make it 4-2 at 12:14 of the second period.
Troy Gedny would respond for the Dragons as he broke down the wing on a 3 on 1 and kept the puck blasting the shot behind Barnes at 15:00 mark of the second period.
Drumheller would push Eagles in the third and tie the game at 4-4 as Trent Ouellette fired the puck in.
Initially the refs said no goal, but after a conference the refs gave the Dragons the goal 53 seconds into the third period.
The Eagles would retake the lead again as Lane Olsen finished off a 2 on 1 down low to make it 5-4 at the 5:40 mark of the third period.
Once again the Dragons would answer back as Mitchell Cook would tip the puck in to tie the game at 5-5 at the 11:19 mark of the third period.
Game four would require overtime between the Dragons and Eagles.
Overtime would last 3:00 before Mitchell Cook would score his second of the night on a rebound to give the Dragons a 6-5 win and 3-1 series lead.
The Dragons can wrap up the series on home ice on Friday night when the two teams meet up for game five.
Lloydminster vs. Fort McMurray (Oil Barons lead 3-1)
Lloydminster came out strong and held a 3-1 lead midway through the first period.
However, the Oil Barons would battle back and come away with a 4-3 victory.
The Lloydminster Bobcats didn’t waste much time getting going as Kyler Wilkinson pinched in off the point and gave the Bobcats a 1-0 lead just 45 seconds into the game.
Lloydminster kept coming on their first power play of the night as Braden Crone got wide open an put the puck behind Oil Barons goaltender Tanner Jaillet at 6:29 of the opening period to make it 2-0 Bobcats.
The Oil Barons would answer with their first of the game as Adam Durkee snapped the shot underneath Bobcats goaltender Chris Tai at 11:40 to make it 2-1 Bobcats.
Lloydminster would get that goal back as Austin MacDonald deflected a shot over Jaillet to make it 3-1 Bobcats at the 16:17 mark of the opening period.
Fort McMurray would answer just 1:03 later as Mitchell Vanderlaan drove down the wing and hammered a shot behind Tai to cut the Bobcats lead to 3-2 at 17:20 of the opening period.
The Oil Barons would then tie the game 1:30 later as Brennan Saulnier drove down the same wing as Vanderlaan and fired the puck off the far post and in at 18:50 of the opening period.
After six goals in the opening period neither team would score in the second and the Oil Barons and Bobcats headed to the third tied 3-3.
In the third Louis Joseph Sawyer would snap the puck in off an Oil Barons faceoff win at 9:18 to give the Oil Barons their first lead of the night.
Despite a push from the Bobcats the goal midway through the third period would stand to be the winner as Fort McMurray beats Lloydminster 4-3.
The Oil Barons now lead the series 3-1 and have an opportunity to advance to the North Finals at home on Saturday night.
Olds vs. Brooks (Bandits win 4-0)
With their season on the line the Olds Grizzlys pushed, but couldn’t find away to beat the Brooks Bandits.
The Grizzlys season comes to a close as the Bandits skated away with a 6-3 win to advance to the South Finals for a third straight year.
The Bandits got off to a quick start as Austin Plevy made short work of their first power play to make it 1-0 just 4:34 into the game.
The Grizzlys would respond on their first power play of the night as Kyle Moore tapped the puck behind Bandits goaltender Michael Fredrick at 14:02 to tie the game at 1-1.
The Grizzlys would take their first lead of the night as Chaydan Lauber found the rebound in the Bandits crease and swept the puck in at 17:10 of the opening period.
In the second Patrick Chore got a 2 on 1 and made no mistake beating Grizzlys goaltender Ethan Jemieff to tie the game at 2-2 at the 5:25 mark of the period.
Anthony Petruzzelli would then give the Bandits the lead late in the second period as he was the trailer finishing off a 3 on 1 at 14:34 of the period to make it 3-2.
Early in the third the Bandits would take advantage of a late second period penalty by the Grizzlys as Maddison Smiley was left alone at the side of the net, the goal came just 18 seconds into the third period.
Knowing their season was on the line the Olds Grizzlys would push back and Kyle Starr would stuff the puck into the net at 9:03 to cut the deficit to 4-3.
The Bandits would get that two goal lead back just 25 seconds later as Alex Roberts picked up a drop pass and snapped the shot in at 9:28 of the third period.
Penalty trouble for the Grizzlys late in the game allowed the Bandits to put the game away as Anthony Petruzzelli would score his second of the night on the power play to make it 6-3 at 17:51 of the third period.
The Bandits sweep the Olds Grizzlys for the second time in three years.
Brooks will now wait for the winner of the Drumheller/Canmore series.
Story by Chris Colwell