The Carman Beavers opened strong but couldn’t hold off a red-hot Portage Islanders squad, falling 7-1 in SEMHL action Friday night.
Carman struck first at 15:26 of the opening period when captain Tyler Park finished off a setup from Eric Klassen and Dan Nychuk. But Portage answered before intermission, with Kian Calder converting at 18:11 to make it 1-1 heading into the break.
The Islanders seized control in the second period. Jared Roy scored the eventual game-winner on the power play at 8:06, finishing a feed from Calder and Riley Zimmerman. Johl Swedlo added to the lead at 15:35, and Liam Grossman made it 4-1 with a late marker at 19:34 as Portage carried all the momentum into the third.
Portage continued to pour it on in the final frame, scoring three times in just over three minutes. Calder netted his second of the night at 4:24, and Chance Dickenson followed up with back-to-back goals at 7:14 and 7:33 to put the game out of reach.
Beavers goaltender Luke Zacharias made 36 saves before giving way to Dan Wenham for the final seven minutes. Portage’s Jacob Gnidziejko earned the win with a 32-save performance, allowing just the single first-period goal.
Carman finished 0-for-3 on the power play, while the Islanders went 1-for-5.
The Beavers will look to regroup on the road when they visit Winkler on Sunday, Nov. 23 at 7:30 p.m.
