Written By: Bill Potrecz
The Fort Erie Meteors and Niagara Falls Canucks have alternated pitching shutouts so far in their Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League playoff series.
The Meteors blanked the Canucks 2-0 Saturday night at the Leisureplex to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven quarter-final playoff series.
The win came on the heels of a 3-0 win Friday for the Canucks on their home ice.
“It was definitely huge,” Fort Erie coach/general manager Nik Passero said. “We were awful last night. We were flat. We’re banged up. We came here without our leading scorer (Joe Macchione) again tonight. We’re all over the place.
“I told the boys playoffs are about character. In this league, it was a huge character win.”
Josh Smith earned the shutout with 21 saves, his second shutout of the series. Fort Erie took Game 1, 1-0 in overtime.
“I can’t say enough about Smitty with another shutout,” Passero said. “He was good last night and another huge night tonight. Two shutouts in the playoffs is pretty special.”
Passero gave the Canucks credit for their willingness and ability to play defence.
“They’re so good defensively. They are very structured and have a lot of buy-in over there so we have to take what’s given to us and we did that tonight,” he said. “Two big goals and then we didn’t hold on in the third. We pushed the pace and I thought we were really good.
“They changed their style since Christmas and we’re a little snake-bit too. That kid (Canucks goalie Avery Alves) made some huge saves. He’s a good goalie. We could have easily have six or seven.”
Owin Hendsbee scored for Fort Erie in the first period while Matthew Herb connected in the second.
“Other than Game 1, we’ve been down to them seven out of eight games this year, and Game 1 we didn’t have a lead, we scored in overtime,” Passero said. “To get ahead is important.”
Blackhawks 4 Corvairs 1
The Thorold Blackhawks turned in one of their best performances of the season to defeat the Caledonia Corvairs at Caledonia Saturday night.
The Corvairs lead the best-of-seven series 2-1 after winning the first two games.
“We were dialled in from the get-go,” Thorold coach/general manager Scott Barnes said. “There was a good vibe in the room. We gained a lot of confidence from Game 2. I think we deserved to win. It was very deflating not to win; I think we were the better team.”
The Corvairs scored two late goals in Game 2 to earn a 4-2 win and take a 2-0 lead in the series.
“The boys bounced back the next night. It could have gone either way. They came out and really played our game,” Barnes said. “It was a must-win game. I think the boys knew it. I was a little worried they might be a little too nervous or gripping the sticks a little too tight in a situation like that but it was the exact opposite. They played a very controlled, disciplined game and played the systems perfectly.”
Wyatt Gibson, Dylan Pergentile, Aiden Cupelli and Owen Caldwell scored for the Hawks.
Zachary Naherne replied for the Corvairs.
Christian Lynch made 36 saves for the win.
Falcons 2 Panthers 0
Aiden Berry turned away 29 shots for the shutout as the St. Catharines Falcons blanked the Pelham Panthers 2-0 to take a 3-0 lead in their series.
The Falcons fired 58 shots as Pelham goaltender Logan Slou, including a staggering 28 in the second period alone.
Cameron Knight scored early in the first for the Falcons while Nate Shirton netted a goal at 19:52 of the second.
“Three down, one to go,” St. Catharines coach Tyler Bielby said.
Junior Canadians 5 Kilty B’s 2
The Welland Junior Canadians upset the visiting Hamilton Kilty B’s Sunday night in Welland.
Daniel Thomakos paced the winners with a pair of goals while Thomas Shain, Matthew Schlosser and Tyler Isherwood added singles.
Matthew Duarte, Aaron Chiarot and Connor Haynes replied for the Kilty B’s, who lead the series 2-1.
Markus Stoikos made 32 saves for Welland.
Saturday, Hamilton prevailed 4-1 on goals by Nathan Phillips, Benjamin Hofstetter, Haynes and Chiarot.
Schlosser replied for Welland.
THIS WEEK
St. Catharines vs. Pelham
Falcons lead series 3-0
Game 4: Tuesday, March 7 at St. Catharines, 7 p.m.
*Game 5: Wednesday, March 8 at Pelham, 7:45 p.m.
*Game 6: Friday, March 10 at St. Catharines, 7 p.m.
*Game 7: Monday, March 13 at St. Catharines, 7 p.m.
Hamilton vs. Welland
Kilty B’s lead series 3-0
Game 4: Tuesday, March 7 at Welland, 7 p.m.
Game 5: Thursday, March 9 at Hamilton, 7 p.m.
*Game 6: Sunday, March 12 at Welland, 7 p.m.
*Game 7: Monday, March 13 at Hamilton, 7 p.m.
Fort Erie vs. Niagara Falls
Meteors lead series 2-1
Game 4: Tuesday, March 7 at Niagara Falls, 7 p.m.
Game 5: Wednesday, March 8 at Fort Erie, 7 p.m.
*Game 6: Friday, March 10 at Niagara Falls, 7 p.m.
*Game 7: Saturday, March 11 at Fort Erie, 7 p.m.
Caledonia vs. Thorold
Corvairs lead series 2-1
Game 4: Monday, March 6 at Port Colborne, 7:30 p.m.
Game 5: Wednesday, March 8 at Caledonia, 7:30 p.m.
*Game 6: Friday, March 10 at Port Colborne, 7:30 p.m.
*Game 7: Saturday, March 11 at Caledonia, 7:30 p.m.
*if necessary
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