Meteors bounce back, forcing a Game 7
Home teams have won every game in second-round series
On paper, the numbers didn’t add up at all for the Fort Erie Meteors heading into a best-of-seven Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League Golden Horseshoe semifinal with the Hamilton Kilty B’s.
They entered the post-season as the fourth seed after finishing the 48-game regular season with 53 points, 28 fewer than the No. 1 seed Kilty B’s. Fort Erie went 1-6 versus Hamilton head-to-head in league play.
Yet the Meteors, regarded as among the longest of longshots at the outset of the second-round series, now have a chance to advance to the conference final against the St. Catharines Falcons. On Wednesday, before an announced crowd of 850 at Fort Erie Leisureplex, the hosts scored two unanswered goals for a 2-1 win to stave off elimination and force Game 7.
A must-win game in a series that so far has only seen home teams prevail goes Friday night at Dave Andreychuck Mountain Arena in Hamilton. The Kilty B’s came from behind to win Games 1 and 3 by identical 4-3 scores and took the fifth game 4-1, while the Meteors recorded a 2-0 shutout in Game 2 and scored a 2-1 victory in Game 4.
Hamilton’s Luke Johnson opened the scoring Wednesday night with an unassisted goal 7:42 into the first period. Joseph Macchione replied for Fort Erie and Jayden Baldinelli netted the game-winner with two seconds left in the middle frame.
Shots on goal in the defensive battle were 23-20 in favour of the Kilty B’s. Each team went 0-for-2 on the power play.
Goaltender Duncan Nichols-delay earned the victory with another standout performance between the pipes for the Meteors.
The overager from Calgary, who has played in all of the team’s 10 playoff games, lowered his goalsagainst average to 1.91 while increasing his save percentage to .930.
Nichols-delay compiled a 17-8-0-1 record in 29 regular-season games and wrapped up league play with three shutouts, a 2.50 GAA and .916 save percentage.
Meteors general manager-head coach Nik Passero isn’t at all surprised his team has tied up the series with the regular-season champions at three wins apiece.
“With our goaltending and how hard we work, we just never die,” he said.
“There were ample opportunities for us to lay down in this series. “We blew Game 1, we came back Game 2 have a great one. We just keep coming back.”
Hamilton’s success on home ice since the outset of the 2021-22 season has been nothing short of remarkable. The junior-b team’s record in its 2,500-capacity arena is 5-0 in the playoffs and 27-0-1 overall.
Their lone setback, excluding a double-forfeit in the season opener to the Niagara Falls Canucks, was a 2-1 loss in overtime to St. Catharines on Feb. 28.
Fort Erie’s road record is 10-14, regular season; 2-5, playoffs; heading into Friday’s game.
Passero doesn’t intend to waste any time between now and the 7 p.m. faceoff getting his team to forget about those stats.
“I think you waste energy trying to forget things. Yeah, we haven’t been lucky there, but it is what it is,” he said. “We have one game to play the St. Catharines Falcons in the finals of the Golden Horseshoe.
“Two weeks ago you gave us this opportunity, we would have taken it 100 per cent.
“I’ll take my guys in a war any day.” A sixth man, a fan bus, will accompany the team to Hamilton for Game 7. Capacity for the highway coach bus is 60 passengers.
“I’m sure we’ll fill it, by what people have been saying in emails and in texts,” Passero said. “The crowds have been unbelievable.
“It’s been so special to see the fans come out for these boys. They work so hard, and they’re exciting to watch.”
He said the only word for the crowd’s reaction to the team’s two goals in Wednesday night’s win was “electric.”
Meteor Showers The Meteors are playing what is now the Kilty B’s franchise in the playoffs for the third time in four seasons. They were swept 4-0 in the quarterfinals in 2018-19 and lost 4-1 in the opening round in 2016-17 against the then-ancaster Avalanche … Fort Erie last reached the conference final in 1990-91 when it lost to Welland, then known as the Aerostars.
Two weeks ago you gave us this opportunity, we would have taken it 100 per cent. I’ll take my guys in a war any day. NIK PASSERO FORT ERIE METEORS GENERAL MANAGER-HEAD COACH