A pair of goals against no reply in the 1st and 2nd periods helped Flames to a 4 goal lead before they closed the evening on a 5-1 win at Manchester Storm; the result sends Spectrum’s men home for Sunday’s Leg 2 with a 4 goal aggregate advantage.
A Ryan Hughes powerplay goal at 5:28 set Flames to a lead. Matt Tugnutt doubled the difference before the game was 10 minutes old and they held that margin through the opening 20 minutes.
Early in the 2nd, Flames added another off the stick of Steven McParland and just near the end of a powerplay, a little over 3 minutes from period time, Bradley Lalonde widened the gap to 4.
Shortly after re-start Ryan Tait opened a 5 goal gap but a Mitchell Martan strike broke Taz Burman’s bid for a shutout and pulled Storm within 4 to begin the closing leg.
Burman turned away 36 of 37 shots while Evan Weninger was 29 of 34.
“Getting out to a lead was a big part of what we were able to do tonight, so it was good timing to get some puck luck around the net early, ” said Paul Dixon. “We have been in that spot in reverse in this very rink and when you force a team to play uphill the rest of the night, it is a very difficult situation.”
“Having said that, it is not a 60 minute game where the win is safe and secure now. We have to go home and finish this. It is a good lead we hold but it is not insurmountable so it is important that we do not think about this one anymore but immediately start thinking about what we have to do to fend off a very good team and keep them from pulling the rug from under our feet.”
