Canucks, Corvairs tied for first place
Falcons only one point back in junior B’s hockey closest conference
Just how close are the top three teams in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Golden Horseshoe Conference?
Put it this way, good luck finding a gap wide enough to slide a puck through.
The Caledonia Corvairs defeated the Niagara Falls Canucks 2-1 in overtime Saturday night moving into a first place tie with Niagara Falls based on points, 33 piece, and ahead of the Canucks based on winning percentage, .825 compared to .717.
Caledonia, 16-3-0-1, has three games in hand on Niagara Falls, 16-6-0-1.
Only point back, with two games in hand on the Canucks, are the St. Catharines Falcons. They blanked the Ancaster Avalanche 5-0 on the road Saturday night to improve to 15-4-0-2.
Speaking of the Avalanche, they’re very much in the conversation when the battle for first is being discussed. At 14-5, Ancaster trails Caledonia and Niagara Falls by five points, yet has played four fewer games than the Canucks.
Corvairs 2, Canucks 1 OT
At Caledonia, the four-time defending conference champions rebounded from a loss to St. Catharines by beating another team threatening to end its reign.
Sean O’Brien and Jesse Barwell, 3:50 into the first overtime, found the back of the net for the Corvairs in the come-from-behind victory.
Canucks sniper Frank Pucci opened the scoring with 42 seconds remaining in the first period.
Caledonia, which improved to 2-0 in head-to-head play versus Niagara Falls, outshot the Corvairs 37-19.
Neither team scored on the power play. The Canucks went 0-for-2; Caledonia 0-for-4.
The Corvairs dropped a 6-3 decision to the Falcons Friday night on the road.
Falcons 5, Avalanche 0
At Caledonia, Owen Savory stopped 23 shots for his third shutout of the junior B season backstopping St. Catharines to its third straight win.
Dakota Miskolczi, with two goals; Jaleel Adams, Michael Davies and Zach Lawrence provided the offence as the Falcons evened their record against Ancaster at one win apiece.
Shots on net favoured St. Catharines by a 31-23 margin, and the Falcons also enjoyed more success with the man advantage, 2-for-5 compared to 0-for-8 for the Avs.
Once red-hot Ancaster has been 2-3 since snapping an eight-game winning streak.
Blackhawks 3, Meteors 2 2OT
At Fort Erie, James Guest made himself right at home in front of the Meteors net with his overtime goal giving visiting Thorold a come-from-behind victory.
Brendan Charlton and Trevor Neumann scored in regulation for the Blackhawks, 9-10-1-2.
Brady Lee accounted for the Fort Erie offence with two goals as the Meteors fell to 5-12-1-3.
Fort Erie was playing its fourth overtime game in a row, and Thorold was playing its third.
The Blackhawks outshot the Meteors 53-33 and went for 0-for-7 with a man advantage. Fort Erie went 1-for-6 on the power play.
Canucks 5, Meteors 4 OT
At Niagara Falls, Matthew Caruso’s goal 2:22 into the first overtime gave the visiting Canucks a come-from-behind victory and sole possession of first place in the Golden Horseshoe Conference.
Ryan Mooney, Owen Green, Hayden Broomhead and Frank Pucci, who sent Friday night’s game into overtime at the 9:36-minute mark of the third period, scored for Niagara Falls in regulation.
Daniel Aspro, Kevin WeaverVitale, Mike Masotti and Aidan McLeod replied for Fort Erie which earned its first point in head-to-head play versus the Canucks after starting the season series 0-2.
Niagara Falls outshot the Meteors 40-31.
Each team went 1-for-2 on the power play.
Panthers 4,
Jr. Canadians 2
At Pelham, Noah Caperchione scored two goals, Peter Izzo and Matt Ruigrok one each and the Panthers held on to defeat the visiting Jr. Canadians.
Tanner McEachern, on the power play, and Matthew Giannini replied for Welland with goals within the final four minutes of the third period.
Pelham outshot Welland 4534 and finished the game 0-for3 on the power play. The B’s went 1-for-3 with the man advantage.
It was the Panthers’ third win in a row versus the Jr. Canadians after starting this season’s Battle of Quaker Road with a loss in Welland.
The weekend home-and-home series wrapped up last night at Welland Arena. Results were not available at press time, but a summary is posted online at niagarafallsreview.ca, st. catharinesstandard.ca and wellandtribune.ca.