For two full periods on Thursday night at the T.M. Davies Community Centre in Walden, the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners held firmly to the hope that a game one playoff upset of the Greater Sudbury Cubs was indeed possible.

In a span of three minutes and 35 seconds early in period three, all hope was gone.

Holding the two-time defending champions to a 1-0 lead into the final two minutes of the middle stanza, the visiting Gold Miners had witnessed a 29-save effort by starting goaltender Glen McInnes, the Frankford (Ontario) native beaten only by a snipe from Spencer Horgan four minutes into the period number two.

With 1:42 remaining in the frame, Caden Dubreuil doubled the Cubs lead on the power play, a strike that turned the entire encounter on its head.

Between the 31 second mark of the third and 3:46, the Cubs had blown the affair wide open, increasing the advantage to 5-0 as Briir Long, Caden Dubreuil and Ty Dubreuil.

The floodgates now open, Daks Klinkhammer, Owen King, Grant Booth and Lucas Antonioni all jumped into the fray, with Vaive Hickey putting Kirkland Lake on the board only once his team was already trailing 9-0.

A final shot count of 44-21 would suggest the end result was simply inevitable as Iain Wintle recorded the win between the pipes for Sudbury.

Game two of the best of seven first round affair is set for Friday night at 7:00 p.m. in Walden before the teams make their way back to Kirkland Lake for games three and four next Monday and Tuesday evenings.