A 13-8 victory on the road at Bill Copeland Arena on Thursday sets up a critical matchup for the Lakers in Colwood before Game 4 returns to the Mainland on Sunday, also at 6.
The Shamrocks are now on a seven-game win streak, if you include the last handful of regular-season games in which the team seems to have found its stride.
Rhys Duch and Jesse King scored on the first two shots of the game chasing Lakers鈥 goaltender Tyler Richards out of the net, briefly. Cory Conway made it 3-0 at 4:03 before Jason Jones got Burnaby on the board 33 seconds later.
鈥淚 challenged them in the second intermission,鈥 Shamrocks head coach Bob Heyes said of seizing the moment with a big final 20 minutes. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 make it any easier Friday, but it makes them [the Lakers] become more desperate.鈥
Duch finished with three goals and four assists and Conway recorded two goals and four helpers. King added two goals and two assists and feisty Greg Harnett scored a pair. Steve Higgs, Jeff Shattler, Doug Langlois and Ethan Garland had the other Victoria tallies.
Jones, with a pair, Eli McLaughlin, Dane Stevens, Robert Church, Ilija Gajic, Tyler Digby and Justin Salt scored for the Lakers, who were shut out 5-0 in the third and deciding period.
King and Shattler scored 29 seconds apart in the first minute of the final frame, and Adam Shute earned his second playoff win in goal for the visitors.
Victoria was without Ian McShane (who was injured in Game 1) and captain Corey Small and Jon Harnett, who were suspended for Game 2 along with Scott Rouse of the Lakers. All three suspensions were deemed as blows to the head.
They will all be back for tonight, which marks three games in four days.