Falcons, Avs go up 2-0

Home ice wasn’t an advantage when action in the opening round of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League playoffs shifted to Pelham and Welland.

Both the Pelham Panthers and Welland Jr. Canadians trail their best-of-seven quarterfinals two games to none after falling short on home ice Sunday.

At Pelham, the second-seeded St. Catharines Falcons took a 5-0 lead into the third period on their way to a 6-1 victory over the Panthers, the No. 7 seed in the Golden Horseshoe Conference.

Carson Edwardson and onetime Pelham Panthers forward Noah Perlic netted two goals apiece and Tyler MacArthur and Lucas Smilsky one each for the Falcons.

Chris Webber replied for the Panthers, who were outshot 43-22.

St. Catharines went 3-for-9 on the power play, Pelham, 0-for-4.

Game 3 in the opening-round series is Tuesday at Jack Gatecliff Arena in St. Catharines beginning at 7 p.m.

The fourth game takes place 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Pelham Arena.

The Falcons opened the series with a 7-1 win at home Friday night.

Despite finishing 42 points ahead of the Panthers in the standings in league play, St. Catharines split the season series versus Pelham.

Each had three wins, though the Falcons earned a consolation point in an overtime loss in the final game of head-of-head play.

Avalanche 2, Jr. Canadians 1

At Welland, Ancaster scored two answered goals to take a 2-0 lead in a quarter-final series versus the Jr. Canadians.

Alexandar Dameski opened the scoring for Welland 3:41 into Sunday night’s game.

Tanner Brennecke netted the equalizer at the midway point of the first period.

Ancaster’s Ryan Dugas and Welland’s Charles Grimard matched one another save-forsave until Matthew Bridgwater scored on the power-play 2:02 into the third period to give the third-seeded Avalanche their second win in as many nights against No. 6 seed Welland.

Shots on net were 30-23 in favour of Ancaster.

The Avs finished the game 1-for-5 on the power play, while the B’s went 0-for-5 with a man advantage.

The series resumes 8 p.m. Wednesday at Morgan Firestone Arena in Ancaster, with Game 4 back at Welland Arena for a 7:30 p.m. faceoff Friday.

Ancaster opened the series with a 4-1 victory at home Saturday night.

The Avalanche won the season series four wins to two, nine points to four.

Action in the other Golden Horseshoe Conference series — Niagara Falls Canucks, No. 4; Thorold Blackhawks, No. 5 — resumes 7 p.m. Tuesday at Gale Centre in Niagara Falls with the Canucks up 2-0.

The top-seeded Caledonia Corvairs have already advanced to the semifinal round after eliminating the eighth-seeded Fort Erie Meteors in a four-game sweep.

Caledonia is the only team in the 26-team junior B league to clinch a semifinal berth heading into the second week of the playoffs.

The Corvairs will face the lowest seed in the second round.