Essex 73's forward Curtis Jackson earned the "Champion Of The Game" award following a 3-1 win in Lakeshore Tuesday night.
He had a hand in all three goals scoring two and assisting on another as the 73's took game 1 of the Stobbs division final. "He's been playing very very good lately," said head coach Danny Anger. "He's finally healthy. He had a rough season with some injuries. We have that old Jackson back."
Essex goaltender Jacob Knowles made 35 saves to earn his seventh win against one loss in these playoffs. "Every good coach and every good team has a really good goalie and our goalie stood on his head last night. He gave us an opportunity to win." said Anger of Knowles who has lost only twice since joining the 73's in late December.
The loss was Lakeshore's second at home in these playoffs. The Canadiens dropped game 5 to Wheatley last week. "Nobody likes to lose at home especially when you have home ice advantage, give it right back." said Lakeshore head coach Anthony Iaquita. "The main thing is I thought we competed pretty hard. We're happy with our effort. We just gotta find a way to finish some of these chances."
The Canadiens look to tie the best-of-seven final Friday in Essex, "We gotta make sure we're ready to play and obviously game 2 is definitely important to us."
Highlights courtesy of WE-Digital