by Morinville News Staff
The Morinville Jets took round one of the qualifying playoff series over the weekend in two straight.
Saturday night saw the Jets on home ice, emerging with a 3-2 victory over the Mustangs. The Jets lead the contest 2-0 after one and built to a 3-0 lead on a powerplay advantage early in the middle frame. The Mustangs came back with two to narrow the margin to one goal. But the Jets maintained that narrow lead with neither side capitalizing on any of the 25 scoring opportunities in the final frame.
The Mustangs had a do-or-die situation Sunday night in their barn – either push the series to three games with a win or call it a year with a loss.
Both sides were scoreless throughout the first period until the final two minutes when the Jets pocketed two to lead the contest 2-0 after one.
Midway through the second period, the Jets capitalized on a two-man advantage to build their lead to 3-0, echoing their path to victory from the night before.
But where the Mustangs answered back to the Jets 3-0 lead Saturday night, there was no rippling of Morinville’s mesh before the Jets built to a 4-0 lead a few minutes later.
The final frame saw the Mustangs getting two goals to close it to a two-goal margin with four minutes left in the game, but the Jets grabbed their fifth 45 seconds later.
The Jets will now move onto the quarterfinal round Feb. 16.
