Shamrocks Push Adanacs to the Brink but Fall 8-6 in Game 2 Thriller

The Victoria Shamrocks refused to go quietly. Facing a Coquitlam Adanacs team eager to bank a win on its home floor,  Victoria trailed after 40 minutes, then clawed back to take a 6-5 lead just over a minute into the third period, before the Adanacs answered with three unanswered goals to escape with an 8-6 win at Poirier Sports Complex on Monday night. It's a tough result for a Shamrocks club that outworked the Adanacs for long stretches and got a monster performance in net, but Victoria heads home with the series far from over and a real chance to seize control in front of its own fans Wednesday.

The game had a back-and-forth feel from the opening whistle. Brodie Wade struck first for Victoria just 3:49 in, and Mathieu Gautier made it 2-1 midway through the frame before Coquitlam ripped off two late goals — Adam Noakes and Laszlo Henning 80 seconds apart — to grab a 3-2 edge after one period. Victoria answered every push. Chris Wardle tied it early in the second, and after Coquitlam's Jalen Chaster converted on the power play, Ari Stevens and Patrick Dodds scored twice in a span of less than two minutes to put the Shamrocks up 5-4. Kean Moon's power-play goal with 14 seconds left in the period pulled the Adanacs even at 5-5 heading to the third, but Victoria wasted no time seizing the lead back, with Zach Manns burying a beauty just 68 seconds into the final frame off feeds from Marshal King and Eli McLaughlin.

From there, the Adanacs' top scorers took over. Thomas Semple, who was named the game's second star, scored his second goal of the night to tie it at 9:49. Two minutes later, with Victoria's Cole Pickup in the box for an unsportsmanlike conduct minor, Noakes struck again on the man advantage to put Coquitlam ahead for good, and Parker Kennedy added insurance at 13:58 to seal it.

Discipline was a factor in the outcome. Victoria was whistled for six minor penalties compared to just two for Coquitlam, and the Adanacs made the Shamrocks pay, converting three power-play goals — including the eventual game-winner — while Victoria's own two chances with the extra man came up empty. In a game decided by two goals, those extra trips to the penalty box loom large, and it's an area the Shamrocks will look to clean up before Game 3.

If not for Chris Origlieri, the game could have gotten away from Victoria much earlier. The Shamrocks netminder turned aside 45 of 53 shots — an 85 percent save rate against an Adanacs attack that piled up 53 shots on net — and was rewarded with the game's third star. At the other end, Coquitlam's Christian Del Bianco earned first-star honors with 38 saves on 44 shots as Victoria's offense generated plenty of quality looks but couldn't quite find enough twine. Despite being outshot 53-44, Victoria matched Coquitlam shot-for-shot in stretches of the second and third periods and had the better of the play for long spells, a sign this series is a legitimate battle between two teams built for a run to the Mann Cup.

The series now shifts to Victoria, where the Shamrocks will look to feed off a home crowd that has been there for them all season. Game 3 goes Wednesday night at The Q Centre with puck drop set for 6:30 p.m. With the winner of this series punching a ticket to the Mann Cup national championship, every possession from here on out carries extra weight. Tickets for Game 3 are available now at VictoriaShamrocks.com.