A netural site game at the Battleford Arena Saturday will be the scene for the final contest of the 2017-18 Saskatchewan Prairie Hockey League season.
With their best-of-five series all tied up at two, the Meota Combines and Hafford Hawks will square off at 7:30 p.m. for the right to hoist the championship trophy.
“We just need to keep playing our game and just have fun in this situation,” Combines forward Michael Pylypow said.
“We’ve had some great battles between the Hawks and it should be another great game Saturday night in the final. We’ve played well in Battleford in the past so we’re going to treat it like a home game.”
Having dropped a 4-3 decision to the Hawks in Battleford last Tuesday, the Combines kept their title hopes alive at the Civic Centre Sunday as they picked up a 4-1 win.
The triumph was not without some challenges, however, as Combines starting netminder Josh Alook was forced to leave with an injury early in the second period and was replaced by James Revering.
Despite coming in cold, Revering turned in a excellent performance as he turned aside every shot he faced over the course of 38 minutes of relief work.
“You just have to be focused when you go into a game like that and be ready to make that first stop,” Revering said.
“We finally played a full 60 minutes tonight, which we hadn’t during the series. Our boys didn’t miss a beat, even when Josh went down. If anything, I think we picked up our tempo and that really allowed me to get settled in net.”
Brothers Blake and Brody Tatchell had a goal and an assist to lead the way for the Combines, who also got a pair of assists from Riley Albert.
Bryce Gatzke and Pylypow rounded out the scoring for the Combines, while Kobe Kindrachuk replied for the Hawks.
Prior to Sunday’s game, the Hawks saw their Senior C provincial run come to an end Friday as they lost 8-6 to the Drake Canucks and fell 2-0 in the best-of-three semi-finals series.
Meanwhile, the Edam Three Stars advanced to the Senior D final with a 4-3 win Saturday to sweep aside the Debden Jets.
The Three Stars will now travel out of town this weekend to open up their best-of-three championship series with the Kyle Elks Sunday at 5 p.m.
The series will shift to Turtleford on Saturday, March 31, for the second game of the final at 5 p.m.
If needed, a third and deciding game will be held on Sunday, April 1, in Kyle at 5 p.m.
