Road win over Blackhawks improves Canucks to 8-0
Team captain Ben Evans scored two goals and collected an assist, and the Niagara Falls Canucks continued to roll through the Golden Horseshoe Conference schedule to start the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League season.
Niagara Falls scored three answered goals Thursday night in Thorold where a 4-1 victory over the Blackhawks improved their record to 8-0.
The Western Conference’s London Nationals, 7-0, boast the only other undefeated record heading into Thanksgiving weekend action in the 25-team junior B league.
Mitch Mendonca, a former Blackhawk and one-time Hamilton Bulldog, and Trevor Neumann traded goals following a scoreless first period in which the hosts outshot the Canucks 14-7.
It was all Niagara Falls after that with Justin Randhawa and Evans, with two goals, the second into an empty net, finding the back of the net.
Zach Moore earned the victory in net for Niagara Falls improving to 6-0 as the Canucks were outshot 3325.
Chase Grsic stopped 21 shots for the Blackhawks who lost their sixth game in a row to fall to 2-6.
Niagara Falls went 0-for-5 on the power play; Thorold, 1-for-7.
The Canucks were home Friday night completing a homeand-home series with the 2-4 Welland Jr. Canadians that started with an 8-7 victory last Sunday at Welland Arena.
Thorold is off until next Thursday when it hosts the Pelham Panthers in a 7:07 p.m. faceoff at Frank Doherty Arena.
Fort Erie Meteors, 1-5-0-1, at the St. Catharines Falcons, 3-3, was the other game on Friday night’s Golden Horseshoe Schedule.
Results were unavailable at press time, but summaries are posted online at stcatharinesstandard.ca, niagarafallsreview.ca and wellandtribune.ca.
Evans, who spent the 2016-17 season in the Ontario Hockey League with the Ottawa 67’s, and Mendonca, who played with the Bulldogs the year before, both joined the Canucks for the start the season after playing last year in the Ontario Junior Hockey League with the Wellington Dukes.
Source: Pointstreak Sports Technologies Inc.