It was a goaltending duel, but the Coquitlam Adanacs came away with a 6-3 win over the New Westminster Salmonbellies on Tuesday night in Game 1 of the WLA final.
Christian Del Bianco and Frank Scigliano went save-for-save, but it was Del Bianco who came out on top. He stopped 46 of 49 shots, while Scigliano turned aside 39 of 45 in the loss.
Jalen Chaster and Adam Noakes led the way for Coquitlam with a goal and an assist each, while Jacob Saunders added two assists.
For New Westminster, Tye Kurtz had two of the Salmonbellies’ three goals, while Will Malcom scored the other.
Game 2 goes Thursday night in New Westminster at Queen’s Park Arena.
Tie Game After One Period of Play
No one was able to get on the scoresheet until the 11:22 mark, when Chaster put Coquitlam on the board with a power-play goal.
New Westminster answered back with 5:33 left in the period as Malcom scored to tie the game 1-1 after 20 minutes.
Coquitlam Pulls Away in the Second
The Adanacs jumped out to a 4-1 lead early in the second period with a three-goal run. Brett McIntyre started the surge at 5:20. James Rahe followed at 6:21 with a power-play marker off a feed from Chaster, and Riley Isaacs made it 4-1 at 11:17 with an unassisted goal.
Just 38 seconds later, Kurtz got one back for New Westminster to cut the lead to 4-2.
Noakes scored off a pass from David Charney at 15:42, but Kurtz struck again with 1:55 left to make it 5-3 heading into the third period.
Del Bianco Shuts the Door in the Third
Del Bianco was flawless in the final frame, stopping all 19 shots he faced as the Salmonbellies outshot Coquitlam 19-9.
The only goal of the period came from Kean Moon, who converted a pass from Saunders to seal the 6-3 victory and give the Adanacs a 1-0 series lead.\
New Westminster Salmonbellies’ GM Ray Porcellato commented after the game:
Top Scorers
Coquitlam Adanacs
- Jalen Chaster, 1g 1a
- Adam Noakes, 1g 1a
- Jacob Saunders, 2a
New Westminster Salmonbellies
- Tye Kurtz, 2g 1a
- Will Malcom, 1g 1a
- Brandon Goodwin, 1a
- Nathan Henare, 1a
- Tyler Pace, 1a
Three Stars
- Christian Del Bianco, Coquitlam Adanacs
- Frank Scigliano, New Westminster Salmonbellies
- Jalen Chaster, Coquitlam Adanacs
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