Clarenville, Grand Falls-Windsor knocked out in Allan Cup play
The quest for the Allan Cup has come to an end for the Newfoundland teams, as both the Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts and the host Clarenville Caribous were knocked out in semi-final action on Friday evening.
The Cataracts traded goals with a strong Bentley Generals team, which placed first in round-robin play in Clarenville.
The Generals were up 4-3 late in the third on Friday evening when Grand Falls-Windsor scored, sending the game into overtime.
But the dream of a comeback victory came up short, after an early goal from Bentley gave them the win, allowing them to advance to Saturday's finals.
With the Generals locked into a finals spot, Clarenville fans were dreaming of a rematch of what seasoned veterans have called the best game of senior men's hockey ever on Tuesday.
The Caribous got into a hole early, but quickly tied it up to 1-1 against the South East Prairie Thunder.
The Thunder rolled to a lead on a power play goal to end the first, putting them up 2-1.
Caribou fans spent the second period cheering the Allan Cup host team to a second goal, but it was the Thunder who clapped one past the goal line, putting them up 3-1.
The Caribou had a deep hole to climb out of in the third, but started the period of on the power play. But Clarenville couldn't carry the momentum, and the Prairie Thunder scored another goal early in final period.
With fewer than five minutes remaining, the Caribou faithful had started the walk back to the parking lot in what ended up being the final game of Clarenville's season.
The Thunder's 4-1 win granted them the final spot in the finals on Saturday.
The Bentley Generals will play the South East Prairie Thunder at 6:30 p.m. NT.
