Canucks rally to top Jr. Canadians
Niagara Falls takes hold of first with road win
Junior-B hockey’s version of musical chairs, better known locally as the 2021-22 Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League Golden Horseshoe Conference regular season, continued Sunday night in Welland.
After the music stopped playing, it was the Niagara Falls Canucks, not the Hamilton Kilty B’s, who found themselves sitting atop the eight-team conference.
A come-from-behind 5-3 victory over the Jr. Canadians lifted Niagara Falls, 8-3-1, into first place, albeit briefly. The 8-1 Kilty B’s, only one point back with three games in hand on the Canucks, were scheduled to host the Jr. Canadians, 2-7, Monday night at Dave Andreychuk Mountain Arena.
Niagara Falls could drop to third depending on the outcome of the other game on Monday’s Golden Horseshoe schedule: St. Catharines Falcons, 7-2-0-1, at Thorold Blackhawks, 3-5-1. Though they would have the same number of points, with 17, a win would leapfrog the Falcons over the Canucks in the standings since they would have a game in hand.
On Sunday night, two unanswered goals gave Niagara Falls its fifth straight win and second versus Welland in league play.
Team captain Matthew Riva led the Canucks with two goals, the second on the power play. He leads the league with 13 goals in 10 games and trails Zach Power of the London Nationals by one in the points race.
Alex Campbell, Ethan Walker and Ben Felicetti, into an empty net with 51 seconds remaining in regulation, rounded out the scoring for Niagara Falls. Ethan Sharpe, Brady Afelskie and Owin Hendsbee replied for the Jr. Canadians who lost their second game in a row.
Welland outshot Niagara Falls 45-33 and went 0-for-4 on the power play; the Canucks, 1for-2.
Riley George earned the win in goal for Niagara Falls. Keegan Jackson was tagged with the loss.
Next action for the Canucks is Friday against the Fort Erie Meteors, 3-4-1, at Gale Centre in Niagara Falls.
Blackhawks 4, Panthers 3
At Pelham, Aydar Suniev scored two goals and added an assist and Owen Caldwell collected three assists, and visiting Thorold came back to defeat the Panthers.
Grayson Gare, on the power play; and Cooper Lobsinger, the game-winner 13:08 into the third period; also found the back of the net for Thorold, which was outshot 35-30 and trailed 3-2 midway into the third. Replying for the Panthers, who lost their third in a row to fall to 2-5-2, were Cody Miskolczi, Florian Xhekaj and Jason Gee on the power play.
Pelham visits St. Catharines for a 7 p.m. puck drop Friday at Jack Gatecliff Arena.
Noah Fortuna got the win between the pipes for Thorold. Brayden Kelso got the decision for Pelham.