Earning the wildcard sport in the Sutherland Cup playoffs by the slimmest of margins, the Elmira Sugar Kings are just one game away from hoisting the trophy. The team takes a 3-0 lead into Wednesday night’s game at the Woolwich Memorial Centre.

The Kings are taking on the London Nationals, the top team in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Western Conference, having eliminated the defending Sutherland Cup champions, the Caledonia Corvairs, in the previous round.

The first game of the series ended with a close score of 3-2, giving Elmira an early lead in the final series of the season. In Game 2, the Kings didn’t allow London a single goal, giving goalie Jonathan Reinhart the shut out with a final score of 2-0.

Sunday night’s game, the series’ first on home ice, started a bit slow for the Kings, with the Nationals scoring in the first period. The score stood at 1-0 until the second, when Elmira came out of the gate strong. With four goals in eight minutes, the Kings took the lead and held it until the final buzzer.

Goals came from Quinten Bruce unassisted, Klayton Hoelscher, Ethan Skinner shorthanded and unassisted and Mitch Hoelscher. Assists went to Skinner, Jake Brown, Jeff Jordan and Klayton Hoelscher.

The third period was scoreless.

Reinhart, named the Junior B players of the year last week, made 28 saves in the Game 3 win.

The puck drops at Game 4 on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. at the WMC.