The Tavistock Braves had trouble finding ways to stop the New Hamburg Firebirds, which beat Braves, 5-1.

The win gave New Hamburg a 1-0 lead in the best of seven series.

The Firebirds' Ryan Purcell was a brick wall in net, as he came up with 28 saves and let only one puck past him. Despite the solid performance, Purcell will actually see his goals against average rise, as it stood at 1.0 entering the contest.

New Hamburg's penalty kill excelled, as the Firebirds gave up one goal despite allowing eight power plays.

New Hamburg forced Tavistock's netminders to work hard to keep the puck out of the net, launching 42 shots and forcing 37 saves. Jason Miller made 27 stops and Ben Larder made 10.

The Firebirds were helped by Anthony Osterling, who grabbed one goal. Osterling scored 9:56 into the second period to make the score 2-0 New Hamburg. Tyler Randerson provided the assist. Others who scored for New Hamburg included Tyler Hoffman, who had two and Kory Nowak and Shawn Antonides, who each put in one. More assists for New Hamburg came via Quinten Haddock, who had two and Jay Fried, David Jennings, and Brodie Muckler, who contributed one each.

The Braves were led by Angus Rowland, who scored the team's only goal. Rowland scored on the power play 14:29 into the second period to make the score 2-1 New Hamburg. A goalie interference penalty on Fried had put Tavistock on the power play. Cody Bateman picked up the assist.

New Hamburg incurred 32 minutes in penalty time with six minors. The Braves incurred 34 minutes in penalty time with seven minors.