Two blowout wins has seen the defending champion Southern Stampede confirm a top-three finish in the New Zealand Ice Hockey League (NZIHL).
The Stampede defeated the Canterbury Red Devils 10-2 and 10-1 at Christchurch's Alpine Ice Sports Centre on Saturday and Sunday, to clinch a playoffs berth with a little under half the regular season remaining.
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Import forward Nolan Ross was the three-star performer over the weekend, with six goals and three assists across the two games, while Ice Black Colin McIntosh put up five goals and two assists, Canadian defenceman Jett McCullum three goals and three assists, and Dylan Devlin a goal and five assists.
In Saturday's game, McIntosh scored the game's first four goals, with McCullum scoring two in the second period and his hat-trick goal in the third period. Ross had two goals and two assists.
On Sunday, the Stampede scored just one goal in the first period, before Ross lit the lamp twice in the second and third periods. The Ruski-Jones brothers, Axel and Ollie, also tacked on goals in the final frame.
The Stampede have nine wins in 10 games, including eight in regulation, to sit on 27 points, nine ahead of the Botany Swarm.
In the weekend's other series, the West Auckland Admirals pulled within a point of the second-placed and cross-town rival Swarm with a two-game sweep at Paradice Botany Downs.
Taylor Rooney scored two goals, while Vincenso Cistrone netted the go-ahead goal with six minutes remaining in a 5-3 victory on Saturday, while Alex Regan, import Pim van der Meulen and Justin Daigle each had two-point games in a 5-1 win on Sunday.
The Admirals, who host the Stampede this weekend, have just one regulation loss in eight games and have played two fewer games than the Swarm.