TRURO, N.S.
Dylan Burton and the Truro Bearcats clearly haven’t tired of the trip to Yarmouth.
One more this season suits them just fine.
Burton exploded for a five-point night Sunday at the RECC as the Bearcats staved off elimination with a 6-2 win to force a seventh and deciding game in their Maritime Junior Hockey League southern division semifinal series with the Mariners.
That game goes Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Yarmouth.
Burton was all over the ice Sunday, scoring twice – both on the power play in the opening frame – and helping out on three other Truro goals.
Cam MacLeod added a pair for the Bearcats while singles went to Curtis Heffernan and Alex MacDonald, who also had two assists.
As he’s been all series, Truro netminder Kevin Resop was rock solid, turning aside 22 of 24 Yarmouth shots that came his way. His teammates had 33 shots at the other end as Mariners’ starting goaltender Leif Hertz was pulled after two periods.
Ben Chipman and Aaron Maillet accounted for the Mariners’ scoring.
The Bearcats gave up the first goal of the game, but Burton’s pair put them ahead 2-1 after 20 minutes. Three unanswered markers in the second put Truro ahead 5-1 before the teams exchanged goals in the third.
A long series makes for short fuses and that was certainly evident Sunday as the animosity between the squads reared its head on several occasions.
The other divisional series will also see a seventh game. In Amherst Sunday, the Ramblers scored twice in the final three minutes of the third to force extra time, then tallied at 16:59 of double overtime to take a 4-3 decision against the South Shore Lumberjacks. That series will be decided tonight (Monday) at 7 p.m. in Bridgewater.
In the league’s northern division, the Edmundston Blizzard and Summerside Western Capitals won their series and begin a best-of-seven divisional final this weekend with the first two games in Edmundston, Saturday and Sunday.
