2019 TELUS Cup

BUFFALOES USE BIG THIRD PERIOD TO BEAT KINGS

JASON LA ROSE

THUNDER BAY, Ont. – Carter Benoit scored a pair of goals, and the Calgary Buffaloes scored four times in the third period to pull away for a 7-4 win over the Thunder Bay Kings to wrap up play Monday at the 2019 TELUS Cup.

The Buffaloes absolutely dominated the final 20 minutes, outshooting the hosts 21-1 to blow open a tie game.

Jack Zayat, Jayden Grubbe and Braden Plaschewsky added a goal and an assist apiece for Calgary, which got points from 13 different players and 22 saves from goaltender Garin Bjorklund.

Nicholas DeGrazia led the offence with a goal and two assists for the Kings, who erased a two-goal deficit in the second period and got within one midway through the third.

The scoring started early, with Benoit banging in a Marco Lopez rebound at the side of the net just 4:14 in.

Plaschewsky stretched the lead to two on the power play at 15:30, hammering a one-timer past Kings netminder Jordan Smith, but Travis Hensrud got that back on a Thunder Bay man advantage late in the opening frame.

The second period was all about special teams – the teams combined for 26 minutes in penalties in the middle stanza, with 20 of those belonging to the Buffaloes.

Grubbe made it a 3-1 game only 61 seconds into the period when his quick shot from the slot beat Smith, but Thunder Bay got back to even with two goals in 1:23 – Christian Veneruzzo kept on a two-on-one and absolutely wired a shot past the glove of Bjorklund, and DeGrazia finished off pretty puck movement on a two-man advantage to tie the game.

But a much more disciplined Buffaloes team owned the third period, starting with the 4-3 goal from Benoit, a harmless-looking backhand that eluded Smith at 3:13

Zayat added the eventual game-winner on the power play at 6:17, getting a point shot through bodies and in.

Bryson Cataldo got one back on the lone Thunder Bay shot of the final period after hard work down low by the Kings, but goals by Carter King and Stephen Rosier in the final 10 minutes gave the Buffaloes a little bit of breathing room.

Calgary finished with a 46-26 advantage in shots on goal.

The Buffaloes return to the ice at Fort William Gardens for a Tuesday afternoon match-up with the Toronto Young Nationals (4 p.m. ET), right before the Kings take on the Tisdale Trojans (7:30 p.m. ET).