The Southern Shore Breakers find themselves in unfamiliar territory heading into Game 3 of the Herder Memorial Trophy championship final tonight in Grand Falls-Windsor.
They trail the series 2-0.
The Breakers advanced to the Herder final through senior hockey’s Eastern Division, grabbing two-game leads on the Conception Bay Blues and Clarenville Caribous. The Breakers won their first-round series, which went the full seven games, over the Blues before dusting off the Clarenville Caribous in a four-game sweep to punch their ticket to the Herder final.
But the Cataracts are back home at Joe Byrne Memorial Stadium, following 5-1 and 4-3 wins last weekend at Jack Byrne Arena in Torbay.
Given the Breakers almost certainly cannot fall behind 3-0 in the best-of-seven final, tonight’s Game 3, set for 8 p.m., would have to be considered a must-win game for the Shore.
Game 4 is set for 7:30 Saturday night at Joe Byrne Memorial Stadium, followed by Game 5, if necessary, 1:30 p.m. Sunday.
If the Breakers force a sixth or seventh game, they will be played 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 20 and 2 p.m. Sunday, April 21 at the C.B.S. Arena.
Through two games, Cataracts Patrick Yetman (1-3) and Danny Wicks (2-2) both have four points, and Kyle McGuirk (2-1) and Michael Cole (1-2) both have three points.
A.J. Whiffen has stopped 84 of 88 shots he’s seen in the Cataracts goal. Breakers’ puckstop Mark Yetman has made 66 saves on 74 shots.
Twitter: @telysports
