R’Hawks trail first-round series 2-1
Home, sweet home?
The Niagara RiverHawks certainly hope that’s the case today in Niagara Falls.
So far every game in the Provincial Junior Hockey League team’s first-round playoff series against the Port Dover Sailors has been won by the home team.
If the sixth-seeded RiverHawks want to avoid being pushed to the brink of elimination by No. 3 seed Port Dover, they will need to bring their A game to the 7:30 p.m. puck drop at Gale Centre.
For Niagara head coach Rob DeGiuli, an A game is just what his team played Saturday afternoon at home in a 3-1 victory that evened the best-of-seven quarter-final at one win apiece.
Jacob Saddler, on a deflection off Ran DeGiuli’s shot from the point, and Bailey Pritchard, on the power play, put the ’Hawks up 2-0 before Connor McQuahe’s power-play marker put the visitors on the scoreboard.
Franke Franck rounded out the scoring with Niagara’s second power-play goal of the game.
Goaltender Gabe Maskaluk made 33 saves to earn the first playoff victory of his junior hockey career and was named Niagara’s player of the game.
The RiverHawks outshot the Sailors 36-34 and finished the game 2-for-8 on the power play. Port Dover was 1-for-2 with the man advantage.
On Sunday, it was the Sailors’ turn to make the most of homeice advantage, and they wasted little time make that happen. They broke a 2-2 tie early in the first period by scoring five goals in a row on their way to a 10-5 victory.
Mason Durant, Karl Lavoie, Carter LeRoux, Daniel Volpatti and Saddler found the back of the net for Niagara which was outshot 47-36.
The RiverHawks were 2-for-8 on the power play; Port Dover, 0-for-4.
A power-play marker from Pritchard was all the offence Niagara could generate in a 5-1 loss in Port Dover in Game 1 of the series.
Game 4 is 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Port Dover. Action returns to Gale Centre for the fifth game in the series 7:30 p.m. Saturday.