SHERWOOD PARK, AB (March 8, 2015) – The Sherwood Park Crusaders scored twice in the first, twice in the second, and another four times in the third, en route to an 8-0 win over the MOB in Game 3 of the best-of-five series.
It was less than five minutes into the game when the Crusaders opened the scoring.
The team's regular season leading scorer Arthur Gordon shot the puck from the goal line, deflecting it in off a skate in front and making a 1-0 lead.
32 seconds later, Gordon deflected a Ben Sowa point shot past Zach Fortin (St. Jérome, PQ) for the early 2-0 lead.
Before the period ended, the Barons nearly got on the board when a neutral zone dump-in from Zach Wittenburg (Chestermere, AB) beat Crusaders' goaltender Zac Klassen.
However, the officials ruled that the Barons had failed to clear the offensive zone before the puck entered it, so the goal was called off and instead ruled as offside.
In the second, the Barons had a couple good early scoring chances, and looked to be getting back in the game.
But just before the halfway mark, Stephen Shmoorkoff scored his second goal of the series, and making the lead 3-0.
That became 4-0 four minutes later, when Cole Gammer cashed in at the side of the net to double up the lead after 40 minutes.
In the third, the Crusaders squashed any thought of a Barons comeback.
In the first minute, Brett Magee beat Brett Lewchuk (Saskatoon, SK), who started the third period in place of Fortin.
Just over four minutes later with Sherwood Park on the powerplay, captain Dane Phaneuf's blast made it 6-0.
1:20 after that, Sowa got on the board himself this time for the 7-0 score.
And on another powerplay just before the halfway mark, Phaneuf's second of the game made it 8-0, a score which stood at the end of the third.
Klassen made 29 saves for the shutout, while Fortin and Lewchuk each gave up four goals in the loss for the Barons.
With the win, the Crusaders are one win away from eliminating the Barons from the first round, and will have that opportunity on home ice in Game 4.
The two teams are back at it on Monday night, with a 7:30 puck drop from the Sherwood Park Arena.
The pre-game show goes live at 7:15 on KAOS 91.1.
KAOS 91.1 3 Stars:
3. Dane Phaneuf (2G)
2. Zac Klassen (29sv SO)
1. Arthur Gordon (2G/1A)