Happy's Source for Sports Midget Tier 1 Chiefs entered into their playoff round Saturday hosting the Campbell River Tyees for game one of the round-robin series that will see one of four teams vying for the provincial championship in March.
Even though these two teams have played in different tiers all season, they have enjoyed a spirited and closely matched rivalry in exhibition games, and Saturday's game was no exception in a game that saw the Chiefs prevail 4-2.
Both teams battled hard for the first two periods, however these periods would belong to the goaltenders, and Comox's Alex Olson did not disappoint.
The Chiefs capitalized on an early third period penalty against the Tyees to open the scoring, and less than two minutes later Bretton Gable's second of the game gave the Chiefs a two-goal lead with assists from Austin McNeil and Cody Eliason.
Campbell River narrowed the lead to one at the halfway point of the third, but the Chiefs battled back hard to maintain control of the game and stretched their lead to two with a power-play goal by Wade Bartlett from Jordan Crisp with 2:37 remaining in the game.
The Tyees were not ready to give up, and less than a minute later with an empty net, pressured the Chiefs and again narrowed the lead to one. The Chiefs tightened up defensively, and with a solid pass by Jordan Crisp to clear the defensive zone, Gable got around the Tyees' defence and completed his hat trick on the Tyees' empty net, breaking the Chiefs' lengthy losing streak and setting a solid foundation as they move forward in their playoffs with their eyes firmly set on the provincial championships.
