Blues stun Red Wings in opener

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This article was published 21/02/2018 (2249 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Lac du Bonnet Blues scored a major upset Wednesday night in Grunthal as they defeated the heavily favoured Red Wings 5-4 in overtime, on the winner from Brent Wold in the opening game of the Carillon Senior Hockey League semi-finals.

Grunthal finished first overall in the league this year with a 16-2-2-0 record while the Blues were dead last at 3-16-0-1. Lac du Bonnet subsequently swept the St. Malo Warriors two straight in a best-of-three play-in series just to qualify for the semis.

Wold, named the league’s MVP this season for obvious reasons, netted the winner on the powerplay 8:44 into overtime. Wold, who had three goals and an assist in the game, also netted the overtime winner for the Blues in their game one victory over St. Malo, and has garnered eights goals and 11 points in three playoff games to date.

Tied 2-2 after the first, the Blues took a 4-3 lead into the third. Dalton Reimer tied it for the Red Wings midway through the third. Tim Plett had a pair of goals for the Red Wings while Jon Lawrence set up three of the Grunthal markers.

Julian Guimond was outstanding in the Lac du Bonnet net making 53 saves as Grunthal outshot Lac du Bonnet 58-33. That was no problem for Guimond as he turned aside 68 shots in Lac du Bonnet’s earlier double overtime victory over St. Malo.

Game two in the Grunthal vs. Lac du Bonnet series will be played Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Lac du Bonnet, with game three back in Grunthal Monday at 8:00 p.m.

Meanwhile, the other semi-final series, pitting the two-time defending champion Ste. Anne Aces versus the Red River Wild, will get underway Saturday at 7:00 p.m. at Ste. Anne.