High Prairie Regals’ goaltender Sandford Lamouche tries to peek around Falher Pirates’ forward Dallas Brochu during Game 2 action of their playoff series Feb. 18.

There are several reasons why the High Prairie Regals find themselves two games down in their NPHL Semi-Final series against the Falher Pirates.

Probably the first is the horrific penalty killing, as the Pirates have scored an incredible eight power play goals in the two games.

But there are other reasons. Poor puck luck around the net and the fact they are playing superior opposition – no disrespect to the Grimshaw Huskies – has led to the Regals needing to win four of five to advance to the NPHL Final against the Fort St. John Flyers.

The Regals were whipped 9-4 at Falher on Feb. 15 and 9-3 at home Feb. 18 to fall behind in the best-of-seven series. The second loss was perhaps more painful as the Regals led 2-0 after 64 seconds on goals from Junior Anderson and Jay Anderson.

However, the sin bin played a huge part in Falher’s comeback. Kahlin Marsolais scored on the power play with Travis Chalifoux in the penalty box for slashing and by the six-minute mark the game was tied on Nathan Smith’s goal.

From then on until Dakota Mason scored a power play goal to give the Pirates a lead they would never relinquish, the story was Pirates’ goaltender Talon Walton. He stopped Junior Anderson and Mitch Price on breakaways, and made two other key stops to keep the Pirates tied. Once Mason scored, the Pirates took total control of the game and cruised to the easy win.

Pat Rowan and Jean-Marco St.-Pierre scored in the second period. Neil Maisonneuve, Jeremie Perron, Dallas Brochu and Mason added third period goals.

The Pirates scored eight straight goals before Price’s third period goal with 8:10 left ended the streak.

Typical of the Regals’ night, where they didn’t seem to catch a single break, Mason scored as he left the penalty box and found the puck on his stick for a clear-cut breakaway.

The Regals outshot the Pirates 41-39 but it certainly was not indicative of the scoring chances. The Pirates dominated and were full value for the win.

Meanwhile, the Regals can only hope that the leadership of Al Anderson and Dakota Conroy factor in to the series. Both missed the second game and were sorely missed.

The first game in Falher was a write-off for the Regals. The Pirates clicked on six off 11 power play chances and added a short-handed goal to add insult to injury. It was the third short-handed goal the Regals have given up in two games, certainly not good for playoff hockey.

The Regals scored on one of seven chances with Jay Anderson scoring a second period power play marker.

The Pirates led 3-0 after one period and 5-2 after two. The Regals never closed the gap to less than two goals after the first period.

The third game of the series is in Falher Feb. 20. Game 4 is in High Prairie Feb. 22 at 8:30 p.m. If needed, the fifth game is at Falher Feb. 24. Game time is 8:30 p.m. for all games so the 65-km trip to Falher to cheer on the Regals is not to far away.

Frantic action in front of the High Prairie Regals’ net did not result in a goal Feb. 18. Regals’ goaltender Sandford Lamouche covers the puck as Falher forward Jean-Marco St. –Pierre, centre, and Regals’ defenceman Eli Cunningham fight for possession.