(Matthew Murnaghan/Hockey Canada Images)     

DAY 3 RESULTS:

Leduc Oil Kings (Pacific) – 4
Mississauga Rebels (Central) – 1

Blizzard du Séminaire Saint-François (Quebec) – 3
Regina Pat Canadians (West) – 2

Cariboo Cougars (Host) – 4
Cape Breton West Islanders (Atlantic) – 3

The race for first place at the 2017 Telus Cup just got tighter as three teams are tied for the top spot. 

The Leduc Oil Kings were able to hand the Mississauga Rebels their first loss of the tournament after building a healthy lead and not looking back in the first game of the day. The first period was stacked with penalties and the Oil Kings capitalized on the power play, scoring with 11 seconds left in the frame, courtesy of Tyler Schendel. Leduc then carried their lead over into the second period as Tyler Smithies potted one five minutes into the second. 

Rebels forward Massimo Petricca got on the trend of scoring a power play goal as he netted one on the man advantage. Schendel didn’t want to his thunder to be stolen so he added another in the third on the power play and Jack Sander also got in on the action as the Oil Kings came away with a 4-1 win. The victory put the Oil Kings in a three-way tie with the Rebels and Islanders. 

In the second game of the day, the Pat Canadians couldn’t take advantage of the winless Blizzard as the team from Quebec picked up its first victory on the third day. Regina took the lead in the second as Carson Denomie scored his first of the tournament. But the Blizzard answered back with a power play goal from Olivier Crête-Belzile.

Saint-François forward Samuel Dickner scored less than a minute into the third to put a good hold on the game. Adam Herold of the Pat Canadians tied the game halfway through the third, but Maxime Collin was the hero for the Blizzard as he scored with under 30 seconds left in the game. 

Regina wasn’t able to bounce back completely after giving up the lead late in the third against Cariboo the day before and settling with a tie and splitting the two points.

The Cougars were able to one-up their tie on Day 2 to find their first win of the tournament. Hunter Floris scored twice and Daine Dubois scored on the power play to give Cariboo a three-goal cushion halfway through the game. 

A late Cougar penalty in the second gave Keenan Gillis of the Islanders a power play goal just before the horn. The momentum shifted in Cape Breton’s favour after the intermission as they were able to cut the lead to one as Sean Stewart scored halfway through the third. Darian Long of the Cougars wasn’t going to let the comeback come to fruition as he potted one with the help of Riley Krane. 

The Islanders didn’t have time on their side as Logan Chisholm was able to cut it to a one goal deficit with two minutes left, but eventually ran out of time for their first loss of the tournament. 

Day 4 will try to help sort out the standings as the Regina Pat Canadians take on Leduc and look for their first win of the tournament. The Islanders will battle against the Rebels to see how can put themselves in first place and the Blizzard will try to slow down the host Cougars in the last game of the day.

Current Standings:
Cape Breton (Atlantic) 2-1-0, 4 pts
Leduc (Pacific) 2-1-0, 4 pts
Mississauga (Central) 2-1-0, 4 pts
Cariboo (Host) 1-1-0, 3 pts
Saint-François (Quebec) 1-2-0, 2 pts
Regina (West) 0-2-0, 1 pt