Panthers triple the Canucks
About the only things that got a good workout when the Niagara Falls Canucks hosted the Pelham Panthers Friday night at Gale Centre were the referees’ whistles and the penalty box official’s pen.
With the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League teams combining for 114 minutes in penalties on 30 infractions, flows featuring end-to-end play — you know, like the kind you see in a hockey game — were far and few between.
Three unanswered goals, including two on the power play, gave Pelham a 3-1 victory in a stop-and-go game that had many in the announced crowd of 451 pleading with the refs to put their whistles away.
“C’mon, let them play hockey!” fans not afraid to share their opinions shouted repeatedly.
The Panthers won their second in a row after ending a five-game losing streak. They improved to 1-2 in head-to-head play against the Canucks and to 11-6-0-1 overall in the junior B league’s Golden Horseshoe Conference.
“We came in here to get a win, that’s how we approach every game,” Pelham head coach Mark Barrick said. “Niagara Falls is a good hockey club, we were full value for the win.”
Panthers goaltender Nicholas Kidd, who stopped 31 shots, received strong support from a
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“We’ve played a lot of hockey, we’ve lost some games we should have won not for any other fault but
our own.”
MARK BARRICK
Pelham Panthers head coach
defence that was diligent in taking care of its own end.
“He made the original save, they didn’t get a lot of second, third and fourth opportunities,” Barrick said. “They got a great offence — they got some guys who can put the puck in the net — but we kept them to the outside tonight.”
The veteran junior B coach agreed trying to build any momentum — let alone, maintain it — can be difficult in a penaltyfilled game.
“It’s just what it is, you got to play it,” he said. “Yeah, it can be tough, but at the end of the day both teams are doing it.
“You got to play through it.” Barrick, whose team started the season 8-1, wasn’t shy about using the S word when taking about the Panthers’ fortunes of late.
“We’ve been in a slump without a doubt,” he said. “We’ve played a lot of hockey, we’ve lost some games we should have won not for any other fault but our own.
“Maybe, we got that mid-season slump over and done with already.”
While Canucks owner-head coach Frank Pietrangelo felt disappointed for the fans — “I
don’t know who pays money to watch that” — he refused to use penalties as an excuse for a loss that dropped his team to 14-2.
“Obviously, we didn’t play well enough to win,” he said. “We can make excuses all we want, but they were better than us tonight and they won.
“Defensively, we were OK, but to score only one goal at home, you’re not going to win many games.”
Thomas Young, with two goals, and Chris Webber scored for the Panthers. Patrick McCabe opened the scoring in the game for Niagara Falls.
Pelham was outshot 32-23 and went 2-for-9 with a man advantage. The Canucks finished 0for-9 on the power play.
Meteors 5, Canucks 4 2OT
At Fort Erie, Evan Miller scored 4:24 into the second — and final — overtime to give the host Meteors their second win in a row and first against the league’s hottest team.
Brady Lee, Alex McTeer, even strength; Logan Warner and Luca Mazzo, power play; found the back of the net in regulation for Fort Erie, which improved to 4-10-0-1.
Dillon Hill scored two goals, Ben Evans and Matthew Riva one each for the Canucks who outshot their hosts 43-30 in Saturday night’s renewal of the Battle of the Niagara Parkway.
Niagara Falls opened the season series against Fort Erie winning 9-2 at home and 7-1 at home.
The conference-leading Canucks came up short for the second time in as many nights falling to 14-2-0-1 in league play.
Fort Erie went 2-for-8 on the power play; Niagara Falls, 0for-3.
Lone game on the Golden Horseshoe schedule last night had the Meteors visiting the Welland Jr. Canadians, 4-10-0-0.
Results were unavailable at press time, but a summary is posted online at stcatharinesstandard.ca, niagarafallsreview.ca and wellandtribune.ca.
Next action for the Canucks is a 7 p.m. home game Friday against the Thorold Blackhawks.
Falcons 6, Blackhawks 3
At Jack Gatecliff Arena in St. Catharines, Christian Girhiny netted a hat trick and the host Falcons doubled Thorold to return to the win column and extend their point streak to 11 games.
Rounding out the scoring for St. Catharines were Jacob Roach, with two goals, and Carson Edwardson.
Bailey Stumpo, Brendan Chartlon and Sam Vander Zalm scored for the Blackhawks, who were outshot 35-17.
The Falcons were 2-for-4 on the power play; the Blackhawks, 1-for-4.
St. Catharines improved to 11-3-0-1 moving within one point of the idle Hamilton Kilty B’s, 12-4, for second place in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Golden Horseshoe Conference.
Fifth-place Thorold fell to 5-91-0 and lost for the second time this season to the Falcons.
Girhiny, who started the season in the Ontario Hockey League as an over-ager with the Erie Otters, has eight goals and two assists in four games with St. Catharines.