7.3°C Partly Cloudy 
The Kimberley Dynamiters erased memories of a disappointing Monday night loss by beating the Creston Valley Thundercats 2-1 Tuesday night.
The Nitros got second-period goals from Mason Spear and Trevor Grier and 25 saves from Tory Caldwell to avoid elimination in Game 4.
The Eddie Mountain Division series heads back to Creston on Thursday.
“If it was a character test, I thought we came through with flying colours,” said head coach Kevin MacKay. “What happened is we got our feet going, we were making good decisions with the puck and we were making good decisions. We were just kind of in synch, from the start of the game to the end of the game. You’ve got to give the guys credit: it was a great team victory.”
MacKay compared the early part of the game to a chess match or boxing bout, with the two teams feeling each other out.
The first period flew by, with nary a penalty called. It was a marked difference to Monday night, when Creston had five power plays.
Through the whole game Monday, the teams shared three power plays.
“We didn’t get many penalties,” said MacKay. “He put the whistle away for the most part, which was good to see in a playoff game. It’s a different game every night.”
MacKay was pleased his players were able to blend intensity with composure.
“There was a business-like sense the whole game, and we had that in the final (regular season) game against Golden: they came to work, and it was quiet before the game.”
After a scoreless first, Spear got things going with a marker from in close at 1:13.
Creston got back on even terms at 10:21 when Travis Ludwar led a 2-on-1 rush and elected to shoot.
Grier got that lead back a couple of minutes later, letting a wrist shot go from the top of the right circle.
“I could see lots of traffic in front: I just didn’t want to turn it over on the blueline, so I just put it on net,” said the defenceman. “I did see an opening, so I put it through.”
The goal held up as the winner. Grier said the team had hoped to extend the junior playing careers of 89ers Adam Taylor, Matt Foster and J.T. Ward last night.
“We all knew this could be our last shot at it, and we wanted to make it special for the 20-year-olds,” said Grier. “With our backs up against the wall like that, we just had to put in the extra effort and hopefully we’d be rewarded because I believe we had the upper hand in most of the games so far.”
Both teams had a chance or two to add to the score in the final frame. Tory Caldwell made one of his 25 saves on Ludwar’s close-in chance three minutes in, while Nitro Brennan Romanovitch hit the post mid-way through.
The only blemishes for Kimberley in that third came after Matthew Chenard stuck Taylor in the face, breaking his lip open.
Even the most inept hunter could have followed his trail of blood to the change room after the game, but he didn’t miss a shift.
“The intensity has definitely stepped up for these playoff games. You can’t expect not to get some bumps and bruises,” said Grier.
Unfortunately, Taylor’s injury was for naught, as Creston had little trouble killing off the four-minute penalty.
“That was the only time I thought we didn’t have good success,” said MacKay. “We were thinking it would be easy and they outworked us on that penalty.”
Now, attention turns to Thursday night, and the hope the Dynamiters can send the series back to Kimberley for a Game 6 on Friday.
“Each success buys you another ticket to another challenge,” said MacKay. “We were happy to win, but it’s over now. We’ve got to go in there Thursday and all the pressure is on them. Now we’ll see how they’ll respond. I think we’ve got them right where we want them.”
