New West Grabs 2-0 Series Lead

by Kyle Richardson COQUITLAM – The New Westminster Salmonbellies continue to roll in these 2009 playoffs. The Bellies took game two of their best of seven WLA Finals series by a score of 13-5 over the Coquitlam Adanacs on Tuesday night. Similar to game 1, New West built up a first period lead, and never looked back. The Fish stumbled a bit in the first few minutes as they fell behind by scores of 1-0 and 2-1. Perhaps shaking off some two day rust, as the series started on Saturday, New West settled down and answered with four straight goals to regain confidence and momentum early on the road in game two. Ilija Gajic tied the game up at two with his first on the night, while Jordan McBride netted back to back goals to give the Bellies a 4-2 lead. With under a minute left in the first period, while on the power play and positioned at his favourite spot near the crease, Chris Gill one timed a power play goal to give New West a 5-2 advantage following the first 20 minutes of play. After Coquitlam cut the lead to 5-3 the Bellies yet again scored consecutive goals, as this time they found the net four straight times before the Adanacs responded. Gajic and Gill each picked up their second tallies, while Curtis Manning and Scott Stewart finished off a great two minute stretch where the Bellies scored four times in just over 120 seconds. New West would head to the third period with a 9-4 lead. Jordan Hall opened the final frame with a highlight reel, cross crease diving goal. It marked Hall’s fourth straight game with at least one goal. Veteran Peter Morgan would add a power play marker with nine minutes to play, making it 11-5. In a desperate attempt for a comeback, Coquitlam played the remainder of the game with six attackers in the offensive zone, as they pulled their goalie trying to spark some offence. Kyle Ross caught the A’s flat footed, as he ran down the floor in transition and put home an empty net goal. Cliff Smith would pick up his seventh goal of the playoffs just two minutes later, closing out the game at 13-5. Scoring by committee was the key again for New West. As they’ve done all season, the offense was spread. McBride led the Bellies in game two with a five point effort. He finished the night with two goals and three assists. Gajic (2G 2A), Stewart (2G 2A) and Smith (1G 3A) all had four point outings. Morgan picked up three points (3A), while Chris Seller (2A), Chris Gill (2G), Jordan Hall (1G 1A), and Kyle Ross (1G 1A) all had at least two points in the win. His stellar play has certainly carried over from the regular season into the playoffs, as goaltender Matt Roik was once again terrific. Roik stood tall for 30 saves on 35 shots, while collecting his third win of the post season. He leads the WLA playoffs with an incredible .845 save percentage. While his teammate Tyler Richards is second in the league with a .833 percentage. Both goalies have perfect 3-0 records in these playoffs. New West now holds a 2-0 series lead over Coquitlam and will look to take a commanding three game stranglehold on Thursday night, when both teams square off for game 3 of this WLA best of seven series. You can catch the action at Queens Park Arena. Game time is at 7:45pm. Salmonbellies 2009 Playoff Schedule: WLA Semi Finals: Game 1: New West 12 – Langley 5 Game 2: New West 15 – Langley 7 Game 3: New West 14 – Langley 7 Game 4: New West 10 – Langley 4 WLA Finals: Game 1: New West 14 – Coquitlam 5 Game 2: New West 13 – Coquitlam 5 Game 3: Thursday August 20th Coquitlam @ New West 7:45pm QPA Game 4: Saturday August 22nd New West @ Coquitlam 7:45pm Coquitlam Sports Centre Game 5: Monday August 24th Coquitlam @ New West 7:45pm QPA * (If Necessary) Game 6: Wednesday August 26th New West @ Coquitlam 7:45pm Coquitlam Sports Centre * (If Necessary) Game 7: Friday August 28th Coquitlam @ New West 7:45pm QPA * (If Necessary)