A four-goal outburst in the second period was the difference maker for the Lakeland Eagles March 1 as the team cruised to an 8-4 home win to take game one of their best-of-seven semifinal North Peace Hockey League series against the Fairview Kings. Lakeland, which out-shot the opposition by a decisive 54-23 margin, opened the scoring just 32 seconds into the game when Matt Hunter buried the puck on a set-up play off the stick of Mark Lindsay. Jerry Cunningham made it 2-0 at 11:32 after notching his first of three on the night before Fairview responded just over four minutes later to cut the lead in half with a power-play marker to round out the scoring in the opening period. Cunningham would work his offensive magic once again in the second period by scoring an even strength goal at the 2:28 mark. Jeff Filewich put Lakeland ahead 4-1 near the six-minute mark, but the Kings replied less than a minute after that to make it a 4-2 contest. Cunningham got that one back for the Eagles with his hat-trick goal at 15:49 while Lakeland was enjoying its first power-play opportunity of the evening. Also scoring for Lakeland in the period was Jay Anderson with just 12 seconds remaining to give the Eagles a comfortable 6-2 edge heading into the final period of play. Fairview would storm back in the third period with two straight goals, including their second power-play effort of the night to make it 6-4 but the Eagles added a pair of late goals from James Tallman and Jeff Taylor to secure the win. The two teams were back at it three nights later on March 4 where the Kings atoned for the opening game loss by doubling up on Lakeland 4-2 to tie the series at one game apiece. Fairview opened the scoring at 11:25 of the first period only to see the brief lead slip away as Lakeland battled back with two of its own goals from Shaun “Make-Or” Breaker and Junior Anderson for an early 2-1 edge. Fairview would score the only goal of the second frame to knot things up at 2-2 prior to adding another deuce in the final 20 minutes of play for the win. The series shifted back to H.W. Fish Arena in McLennan last Friday for game three with game four slated for March 8 in Fairview. Game five was scheduled for March 11 in McLennan, while game six goes March 13 in Fairview. Game seven, if necessary is this Saturday in McLennan. All game times are subject to change. The winner of the semifinal series moves on to take on either Spirit River or Grande Prairie in the Campbell Cup final. Spirit River held a one game lead in the series as of March 2 after posting a 3-1 win the night before.