R’Hawks winless away from nest

“Undisciplined” play and “lazy penalties” couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Niagara RiverHawks when they faced the Port Dover Sailors on the road Sunday.

The Provincial Junior Hockey League team, seeking to return to the win column following a 5-4 loss in overtime to the Grimsby Peach Kings two days earlier, gave up three power-play goals in a 9-4 loss to Port Dover.

Niagara was outshot 52-33 and fell to 3-3-0-2 in league play while the Sailors improved their record to 3-4.

“We were undisciplined today and took some lazy penalties,” RiverHawks head coach Rob DeGiuli said. “We were missing a few key guys today, but there is no excuse for the penalties we took tonight.

“You can’t play with anyone in this league if you’re in the box all night.”

Carter LeRoux, Will Shaver, Bailey Sowrey and Daniel Volpatti scored for Niagara which finished the game 1-for-5 on the power play. Port Dover was 3-for-8 with the man advantage.

The RiverHawks were up 3-2 heading into the third period of Friday’s game in Grimsby but two goals from the Peach Kings set the stage for Frankie Franck’s even-strength marker for Niagara that sent the game into overtime.

Grimsby only needed 37 seconds to end the drama, thanks to Marcus Brydon’s game winner against Sebastian Iannone who made 37 saves in the loss.

Robert Shaw, with two goals; and Mason Durant also scored for the RiverHawks, who earned a point despite being outshot 42-18 and going 0-for-4 on the power play.

“They are a very good team.” DeGiuli said of the 6-2 Peach Kings. “It wasn’t the result we wanted, but we showed we can play with them.”

Next up for the Niagara Fallsbased RiverHawks is a 7:30 p.m. faceoff Thursday at Gale Centre against the Hagersville Hawks.