Falcons continue to soar
St. Catharines seeks to extend its winning streak to five games and its point streak to seven games
With four victories in a row — and counting — the St. Catharines Falcons now have the longest winning streak in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Golden Horseshoe Conference.
They have gone undefeated in seven games, also tops in the conference, if you throw a 3-3 tie in double-overtime against the Welland Jr. Canadians into the mix.
Their last loss was a 6-5 setback at home to the Niagara Falls Canucks on Oct. 29, which also is the last time the junior B team failed to earn at least a point.
St. Catharines, second in the nine-team conference, is back on the ice Friday, hoping the momentum from a big win over the first-place Caledonia Corvairs will help carry them past visiting Welland.
In their last game, the Falcons doubled the Corvairs, 2-1, becoming the first team in the conference to defeat Caledonia in regulation. St. Catharines improved to 1-2 in head-tohead play versus the Corvairs despite being outshot 32-19.
Caledonia rebounded with two wins after failing to earn at least a point for the first time since opening the regular season with a
2-1 loss to the Listowel Cyclones of the Midwestern Conference at the showcase tournament in Pelham.
After a 5-2 defeat of the Fort Erie Meteors at home Sunday, the Corvairs edged the Kilty B’s, 2-1, the following night in Hamilton.
Ryan Wells, on the power play, and Nick Hugh, 18:11 into the third period, scored for Caledonia, which outshot Hamilton 38-23, went 1-for-6 on the power play and held the B’s scoreless on seven man-advantage opportunities. Terry Brigland scored for Hamilton at the 1:01 mark of the first period.
Here’s a recap of how teams in the Golden Horseshoe fared during the past week, as well as their leading goal-getters and netminding stats:
CALEDONIA CORVAIRS
Record: 23-2-0-1, .904
Streak: 2 wins
Offence/defence: goals scored, 123; goals against, 47
Special teams: power play, 27-135; penalty kill, 17-145
Scorers: Tyler Burnie 22 goals, Joel Mazzilli 20, Nick McHugh, Ryan Wells, 14 each
Goaltending: Nick Clay, 1 shutout, 2.13 goals-against average, .911 save percentage; Aidan Hughes, 4 shu, 1.62 GAA, .933 Sv%
Last week: win, at Hamilton, 2-1; win, home to Fort Erie, 5-2; loss at St. Catharines, 2-1
Upcoming: Saturday, home to Thorold; Thursday, Dec. 5, at Thorold
ST. CATHARINES FALCONS
Record: 17-6-2, .720
Streak: 4 wins
Offence/defence: GF, 99; GA, 57
Special teams: power play, 30-124; penalty kill, 11-114
Scorers: Curtis Egert 17, Carson Edwardson 16, Nick Volpatti 11, Xavier Drummond 10
Goaltending stats: Ethan Cook, 3 shu, 2.22 GAA, .916 Sv%; Blair Coffin, 1 shu, 2.11 GAA, .922 Sv%
Last week: win, home to Caledonia, 2-1
Upcoming: Friday, home to Welland; Sunday, at Pelham
NIAGARA FALLS CANUCKS
Record: 16-6-2-1, .700
Streak: 2 wins
Offence/defence: GF, 99; GA, 73
Special teams: power play, 33-119; penalty kill, 13-94
Scorers: Andrew Bruno 20, Ryan Donovan 13, Jaleel Adams 11, Matthew Riva 10
Goaltending: Anthony Tremonte, 1 shu, 2.83 GAA, .918 Sv%; Jack Brand, 2.35 GAA, .917 Sv%
Last week: win, at Fort Erie, 5-2; win, home to Pelham, 3-1
Upcoming: Thursday, at Thorold; Friday, home to Buffalo
HAMILTON KILTY B’s
Record: 15-9-2, .615
Streak: 1 loss
Offence/defence: GF, 91; GA, 63
Special teams: power play, 16-118; penalty kill, 23-136
Scorers: Jacob Macdonald 18, Christian Pelley 10, Andrew Salt 9
Goaltending: Justin Easter, 4 shu, 1.99 GAA, .936 Sv%; Matteo Drobac, 1 shu, 3.06 GAA, .917 Sv%
Last week: loss, home to Caledonia, 2-1; win, at Welland, 5-2
Upcoming: Saturday, at Fort Erie; Monday, home to Pelham
THOROLD BLACKHAWKS
Record: 14-9-2-1, .596
Streak: 2 wins
Offence/defence: GF, 86; GA, 76
Special teams: power play, 18-115; penalty kill, 27-139
Scorers: Dylan Scriver 12, Trevor Neumann 10, Nicholas Rubino 9
Goaltending: Chase Grsic, 1 shu, 2.58 GAA, .927 Sv%; Noah Fortuna, 3.05 GAA, .916 Sv%
Last week: win, at Pelham 5-0; win, home to Welland, 3-1;
Upcoming: Thursday, home to Niagara Falls; Saturday, at Caledonia
PELHAM PANTHERS
Record: 8-14-0-2, .375
Streak: 2 losses
Offence/defence: GF, 44; GA, 93
Special teams: power play, 9126; penalty kill, 27-127
Scorers: Hunter Godmere 7, Devin Sanders 6, Lucas Smith 4
Goaltending: Nick McGowan, 1 shu, 3.29 GAA, .913 Sv%; Harrison Fleming, 3.52 GAA, .904 Sv%
Last week: loss, home to Thorold, 5-0; loss, at Niagara Falls, 3-1
Upcoming: Tonight, at Buffalo; Sunday, home to St. Catharines; Monday, at Hamilton
BUFFALO REGALS
Record: 5-16-2-2, .271
Streak: 1 loss
Offence/defence: GF, 68; GA, 106
Special teams: power play, 18-143; penalty kill, 22-108
Scorers: Michael Barker 15, Nolan Slachetka 13, Eli Rivers 8
Goaltending: Jagger Maving, 3.60 GAA, .912 Sv%; David Dew, 4.09 GAA, .906 Sv%
Last week: loss, home to Fort Erie, 4-3 OT
Upcoming: Tonight, home to Pelham; Friday, at Niagara Falls
WELLAND JR. CANADIANS
Record: 4-18-3, .220 Streak: 4 losses Offence/defence: Goals for, 61; goals against, 114
Special teams: power play, 18-103; penalty kill, 21-116
Scorers: Jarome Myers 8, Philippe Angervil, Dario Tesoro, 7 each; Josh Di Francesco 6
Goaltending stats: Nicholas Kidd, 3.51 GAA, .923 Sv%; Josh Rosenzweig, 5.03 GAA, .891 Sv%
Last week: loss, home to Caledonia, 5-2; loss, at Thorold, 3-1
Upcoming: Friday, at St. Catharines; Sunday, home to Fort Erie
FORT ERIE METEORS
Record: 3-19-0-4, .192
Streak: 2 losses
Offence/defence: GF, 61; GA, 127
Special teams: power play, 17155; penalty kill, 30-143
Scorers: Cail Cirillo 9, Anthony Gigliotti 7, Marco Lariccia 6
Goaltending: Dalton McBride, 1 shu, 4.88 GAA, .882 Sv%; Jacob Hearne, 3.86 GAA, .903 Sv%
Last week: loss, at Caledonia, 5-2; loss, home to Niagara Falls, 5-2; win, at Buffalo, 4-3 OT
Upcoming: Saturday, home to Hamilton; Sunday, at Welland