The Ice Hawks celebrate their Game 4 win and series sweep on Sunday night, and await the winner of Richmond and White Rock in the next round. // Tav Morrison photo
The Delta Ice Hawks are moving on to the next round, after defeating the North Vancouver Wolf Pack 6-0 Sunday night to complete the 4-0 series sweep.
Zach Shaughnessy posted a 34-save shutout to help carry the Hawks to the win. He allowed just seven goals over the four games against the Wolf Pack.
Ryden Mathieson scored just 20 seconds into the game to start the Hawks’ offence off quickly, taking the puck from centre all the way down and sneaking it past Brayden Burrows for an early 1-0 lead.
The Hawks doubled their lead on the power play later in the period, with Conner Merriman picking up the puck from his brother Carson for a quick shot through traffic that fooled Burrows, Merriman’s first of the playoffs.
Mateo Sjoberg made it 3-0 with some good hand-eye coordination, tapping the puck out of the air near the net and in, giving Delta a solid lead after 20 minutes of play.
Sjoberg struck again in the second with another quick goal for Delta to start a period, beating the defender out for icing and making a beautiful move around Burrows for a 4-0 Hawks lead.
The Merrimans struck again to make it a 5-0 game, with Carson and Conner passing around the Wolf Pack defence until Conner took a long shot, stopped by Burrows, but Carson was right on the doorstep to put in the rebound.
The twins teamed up for one more goal, this time in the third period, with Conner threading a beautiful pass through the slot for a Carson one timer, making a 6-0 final and a series sweep for the Hawks.
Delta now awaits the winner of the other Tom Shaw Conference matchup and will play either Richmond or White Rock in the next round. Richmond currently leads that series 3-0.
