The result for the visiting Shamrocks will speak volumes, either knotted up 1-1 or down 2-0 and in a big hole, having already lost home-floor advantage thanks to Wednesday鈥檚 11-6 loss to the Maple Ridge Burrards.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 make it imperative. Every game is important. We don鈥檛 need any added pressure,鈥� said Shamrocks head coach Bob Heyes. 鈥淲e just have to go in there, play a better game and come out with a win. The pressure to have to win isn鈥檛 an end all, be all 鈥� not at all.鈥�
It is definitely a statement game, however, as Heyes鈥檚 depleted, young lineup needs to rebound.
鈥淭hese guys are still learning. The veteran guys need to step their game up and lead and show what it takes and the young kids will follow,鈥� added Heyes.
The Shamrocks were badly out-scored 7-0 over a stretch of 34 minutes and 35 seconds, from the 8:30 mark of the first period to let the first game get away at The Q Centre. A pair of power-play goals (including a 5-on-3) gave the Burrards their 5-3 lead.
A scoreless second for Victoria was followed by a short-handed goal for the Burrards early in the third before the Shamrocks used power-plays to their advantage to cut back into the lead.
鈥淲hen it comes down to it, there are many different parts of a game or a series that is going to win it. I think the special teams were a bit better,鈥� said Heyes. 鈥淲e just have to adapt and adjust. That鈥檚 the coaches鈥� job to make sure we adjust and are ready to go for [tonight].
鈥淪cigs [Burrards goalie Frankie Scigliano] played really well. We know he鈥檚 a good goalie, but we ran into some goaltending last series, too. We鈥檙e not too concerned about that.
鈥淭here were a lot of posts hit [Wednesday], too, we have to look at those. If a couple of those had dropped, the mindset of the opposition changes. We had some good shots, he made some great saves,鈥� added Heyes.
Scigliano finished with 47 stops as the Shamrocks outshot Maple Ridge 53-43.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a hard-fought series. That鈥檚 our style, that鈥檚 how we play, so it should be pretty physical. But they have physical guys, too,鈥� Burrards head coach Rob Williams said of the series. 鈥淲e have to be at the top of our game all the time for 60 minutes.鈥�
And give them credit, they were the better team on Wednesday and have steamrolled through the playoffs so far.
鈥淚n my honest opinion, the team that works the hardest and makes the fewest mistakes is going to win this series,鈥� said Williams, who has confidence his team can break Victoria鈥檚 string of three straight WLA titles. 鈥淚 am happy, so far. It鈥檒l be nice to get this out of the way. It would be nice and I think it can be done, yeah.鈥�
Game 1 proved that, now the defending champs need to step it up.
鈥淭hey have a ton of confidence right now. We were flat,鈥� said Heyes. 鈥淣o excuse, but that seven-game series [against Burnaby] took a lot out of us, without a doubt, with just a couple days鈥� rest. The body will recover a lot quicker now that we know what we鈥檙e up against and we always seem to play better with a sense of urgency.鈥�
