With a 10-9 loss to the New Westminster Salmonbellies on Friday night, the Burnaby Lakers have officially been eliminated from the WLA playoff race.
Burnaby’s record dropped to 5-10 with three games left to play. They are seven points behind the Victoria Shamrocks for the fourth and final playoff spot.
So, heading into the WLA playoffs will be the Langley Thunder, New Westminster Salmonbellies, Nanaimo Timbermen, and Victoria Shamrocks. However, how each team will be ranked is to be determined. The win put New Westminster in a tie with Langley at 13-3 for first place in the standings.
New Westminster takes first-period lead
Haiden Dickson got the Salmonbellies on the board first 2:52 into the game.
The Lakers would reply with a three-goal run. It started with Connor Watson and Toron Eccleston scoring 18 seconds apart. Eccleston added a second goal with 5:12 left in the period to make it 3-1.
New Westminster would come back with three goals to end the first period. Jason Jones found the back of the net on the power play with 2:55 on the clock followed by Will Malcom 22 seconds later.
Jones scored his second goal of the period with 53 seconds left as New Westminster held a 4-3 lead at the first break.
Burnaby rebounds to take the lead
Jimmy McBride with an individual effort opened the scoring at 1:34 to cap a four-goal run by New Westminster.
It only took 20 seconds for Burnaby to reply. Laszlo Henning scored to make it 5-4 and start a four-goal run by the Lakers.
Myles Moffat tied up the game for Burnaby at 5:34. Ty Ewen would give them the lead just over one minute later.
Connor Watson rounded out the four-goal run at 9:27 as Burnaby jumped out to a two-goal lead.
Jordan McBride would get one back for the Salmonbellies with 4:02 left as the Lakers led 7-6 heading into the third period.
Lakers’ playoff hopes dashed
The game started to unravel for the Lakers early in the third period. Brandon Goodwin scored 54 seconds into the period shorthanded in a key goal in the game.
Anthony Malcom would then give New Westminster the lead 8-7 3:24 into the period.
On the power play, Henning was about to tie up the game 8-8. However, Colton Clark scored 36 seconds later to give New Westminster a 9-8 advantage.
Jimmy McBride would score the game-winner with 6:35 left in the game. Ewen tried to mount a comeback for Burnaby with 3:42 left. The Lakers could not find the equalizer, however, to keep them in the WLA playoff race.
Three Stars
- Will Malcom, New Westminster Salmonbellies
- Jason Jones, New Westminster Salmonbellies
- Keegan Melenychuk, Burnaby Lakers
Top Scorers
New Westminster Salmonbellies
Colton Clark, 1g 4a
Jason Jones, 2g 2a
Haiden Dickson, 1g 3a
Burnaby Lakers
Connor Watson, 2g 3a
Toron Eccleston, 2g 3a
Ty Ewen, 2g 1a
Kieran McKay, 3a
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Shawn Slaght has been a sports reporter across the Canadian prairies for over 10 years and has experience covering everything from junior hockey to World Cup skiing to all levels of lacrosse. He is the Saskatchewan correspondent for All Lacrosse All The Time.
