It wasn’t easy but the Kelowna Chiefs are moving on in the KIJHL playoffs.
Jason Tansem’s club needed the maximum seven games to knock off the Summerland Steam in the opening round, with the clincher coming Saturday night at Rutland Arena.
Devin Sutton scored a pair of first-period goals and Joseph McLeod stopped 29 shots as the Chiefs shutout the Steam 3-0 to claim the Okanagan Divisioin semfinal four games to three.
Devin Sutton and @BrettWitala celebrate Sutton's 2nd goal of the night vs @SteamKIJHL in tonight's game 7. @KelownaChiefs took the game 3-0 and will move onto the 2nd round vs @KIJHLCoyotes pic.twitter.com/TrqK9hRt0X
— Steve Dunsmoor (@sdunsmoor) March 4, 2018
Kelowna led the series 3-1 only to watch Summerland bounce back with two straight wins to force Saturday’s deciding game.
The Chiefs will now take on the Osoyoos Coyotes in the Okanagan Division final. Games 1 and 2 in the best-of-seven go this Tuesday and Wednesday in Osoyoos. Games 3 and 4 will be played next weekend at Rutland Arena.