The Kimberley Dynamiters defeated the Fernie Ghostriders 5-2 in Game 6 of their best-of-seven match up on Monday to move on to the Kootenay Conference Final against the Beaver Valley Nitehawks, which starts tonight.
The Dynamiters’ Keenan Haase broke a 2-2 tie at 13:35 of the third period to score the winning goal and propel the team to its first Eddie Murdoch division title in 10 years. Haase exchanged a quick give-and-go with Coy Prevost before sending a wrist shot over the shoulder of Ghostriders goaltender Jeff Orser.
“This series could have gone either way,” Kimberley Dynamiters head coach Jerry Bancks told the Kimberley Bulletin Monday. “I give [the Fernie Ghostriders] full credit. We won by, basically, another one-goal game tonight. It’s kind of how it is and that’s kind of how the whole series was. It was a lot of fun. We’ve got a great group of guys that deserve that.”
Kimberley had jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead on goals from Eric Buckley and James Jowsey, before the Ghostriders replied in the second period knotting it at 2 on tallies from Cole Keebler and Dan Burgess.
The Dynamiters would hold on, and Prevost and Braden Saretsky added empty net goals in the final minute to put the Ghostriders on ice.
Fernie outshot Kimberley 32-26 but couldn’t beat Dynamite goalie Tyson Brouwer, who had returned from injury in Game 4, down 2 games to 1, and won three straight games.
The Nitehawks gain home ice advantage because of second-seed Kimberley’s upset win over Fernie, the top team in the Kootenay Conference during the regular season.
B.V. begins its run at a consecutive conference title tonight at 7 p.m. at the Hawks Nest and Game 2 on Thursday at 7 p.m.