Finn Moffett is quickly proving he can cut it at the junior level.
The 17-year-old goaltender is off to a solid start with the Fort Erie Meteors through his first nine games with a 2.58 goals-against average, two shutouts and a .909 save percentage.
Moffett earned his fifth win of the season Saturday, kicking out 38 shots as the Meteors held off the St. Catharines Rankin Construction Falcons 3-2 in Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League action at the Leisureplex.
“It feels amazing against a big Golden Horseshoe rival,” said Moffett, who hails from St. Catharines. “It takes everybody blocking shots and getting pucks out, hits. It takes a full team effort to beat a team of that calibre.”
Moffett was at his best in the third period making 14 saves, including a game-saving stop on a breakaway against Nathan Duplessis who had a clear breakaway from the blueline.
“I kind of read his release that he was going to shoot low so I just dropped and was able to make the save,” Moffett said.
Moffett, who played last season at Ridley College, admits it took some time to feel comfortable with the Mets.
“It’s definitely a big jump up,” he said. “I think now I’ve got the speed and I’m used to it a bit more so I feel a lot better.”
Moffett, John Lloyd and Nathan Boudreau give the Meteors both talent and depth in goal.
“I think between the three of them, I think we’ve got a great group,” Meteors general manager/coach Nik Passero said.
Saturday’s matchup, the first between the teams since last March when the Mets eliminated the Falcons in the playoffs, didn’t disappoint.
“We spent the first half of the season so far playing teams that we haven’t played in a long time so to get back to Caledonia, Hamilton and St. Catharines, I saw a little bit of a juice in our group,” Passero said. “I think both teams are trying to find their way in the season through a lot of ups and downs. We just got up. We were really good defensively and obviously Finn played great.
“Right now I think we’re in a good spot.”
The Mets improved to 9-5 with the win while the Falcons, coming off a 4-2 win at home Friday versus Pelham, dropped to 10-5.
“Liked our effort, that’s our game,” St. Catharines president of hockey operations and head coach Tyler Bielby said. “It’s a one-goal game on the road. Made a lot of scoring chances, we just didn’t find a way to put it in, but proud of the team’s effort in general and that’s not always the case after a loss.
“Sometimes we have to look at the process and just keep working and make sure we bear down. And we’ll do that in practice. Every time you lose, you’ve got to learn. What we learned tonight is to bear down, not beat ourselves. It starts with me and starts with some giveaways on goals and some sloppy rebound play.”
The Falcons were pressing hard for the equalizer when they were whistled down for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty with 3:05 to play, a call which didn’t sit well with Bielby.
“It was from the bench. First and foremost, we have to own that, I have to own that,” Bielby said. “We’re getting called for the face-off outside when there’s already four people on the play. It is what it is. We’re talking to the refs all night and then with three minutes left in a one goal game, that was the call.”
Overall, Bielby felt his squad kept a lid on things as well as could be expected.
“I thought we were trying to be as disciplined as possible,” Bielby said. “We were getting a little frustrated dealing with the net being knocked off all night. So we’re getting frustrated on that piece, but we just have to work through it. We’re creating possession, we’re playing in their zone and the momentum is killed with a whistle.”
Metscellaneous: Zac Mizzi and Brock Houser were scratched for the Meteors . . . Kaleb Lyttleton, Thomas Dimoulas, Matt Fries and Hayden Jeffery were scratched for the Falcons.
