Heading into the weekend, scoring back-to-back wins over the defending OJHL champion Collingwood Blues would have seemed like a tall order.
The idea of shutting them out twice in a row was certainly not even imagined, much less seriously considered.
But that’s exactly what the Menace pulled off, with Sunday’s 4-0 home-ice victory giving them a two-games-to-one series lead in the West Conference semifinals.
Standing tall in front of another full house at Memorial Arena, Carter Bickle made 41 saves for his second shutout in as many games – dropping his league-leading goals-against average to 1.17.
He weathered a 23-shot flurry in the third period, during which the hosts killed four penalties to keep Collingwood scoreless for the series.
Madden MacDougall sank his seventh and OJHL-leading eighth of the playoffs, while captain Graeme MacAuley sealed the deal with a late empty netter.
Rounding out the scoring was Cole Semeniuk, while Luke Johnston recorded three assists and Justin Dezoete had two.
The 2-0 second-round start follows a regular season in which the Menace scored just one point against the Blues in a 0-4-1-0 series.
If victorious tomorrow night in Collingwood, Milton can sweep round two at Memorial Arena Friday. Game time, as always, is 7:30 p.m.
