Canucks secure second place
The St. Catharines Falcons and Niagara Falls Canucks squared off in a battle for second place and a likely second round playoff preview Monday afternoon at the Gale Centre.
When the dust finally settled, the Canucks prevailed 3-0 clinching second place while the Falcons still have some work to do to hang on to third in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League, Golden Horseshoe Conference standings.
“I thought there were two good teams on the ice and we ended up on the wrong side,” Falcons coach Tyler Bielby said. “We have to find ways to bear down and score around the net.
“We couldn’t find a way to score five-on-five. We’re going to have to find ways. Saying that it was a good try or we’ll get them next time is over. It’s playoff hockey and we have to find ways to win.”
Bielby felt the Falcons, who fired 37 shots at Niagara Falls goaltender Anthony Tremonte, couldn’t buy a break around the net.
“We cycled the puck well at times and some pucks rolled by nets and hit posts. It’s about bringing traffic and maybe one of these days the puck will go off a shin pad and go in.”
Unlike previous games between the long time rivals, the Falcons kept their cool for the most part — a checking from behind penalty and game misconduct to St. Catharines forward Xavier Drummond in the first period notwithstanding.
“We talked about discipline and staying out of the box and I thought for the most part my players were disciplined,” Bielby said. “Both teams, for the most part, played a disciplined game.”
The Falls were whistled for just two minor penalties but with four seconds remaining Ryan Donovan was assessed a major penalty for spearing Noah Solinger.
The Falcons now need a win at home Friday versus the Kilty B’s to secure third place in the standings.
“It’s all on the Hamilton now, that’s the only thing I can think of,” Bielby said. “We’ll start preparing all week for Friday night and see where that brings us.
Canucks coach Frank Pietrangelo was pleased with his team’s effort.
“We don’t get many shutouts,” Pietrangelo said. “Today we knew we had to play well defensively because St. Catharines doesn’t give up much.
“We scored 37 goals in the last four games coming into this hockey game so we’ve been scoring a lot of goals and feeling good about the offensive part of our hockey game.”
The Canucks are now are in a good position heading into the final weekend of the season with games at home Friday to Caledonia and in Pelham Sunday.
“It was one of our goals for sure,” Pietrangelo said of finishing in second. “Some things are out of your control, some things aren’t. We’ve played really, really well the last five games both offensively and defensively.
“Now we have a couple of games to fine tune things and prepare for who we play.”
Following a scoreless first period, the Canucks finally broke through when Danial Singer netted his 14th at the 14:26 mark of the second.
The Canucks added an insurance marker late in the third when Matthew Riva potted his 21st of the season. Andrew Bruno then wrapped things up with an empty net goal with 30 seconds to play.
Falcon facts: Ethan Cook (lower body), Matt Bazarin (suspension) and Luca Mazzo did not dress for the Falcons . . . Jake McKinstray and Mike Butterfield were scratched for the Canucks . . . The Canucks took the season series 5-1.
Canucks 3 Falcons 0
Front Row Sports Star of the Game: Niagara Falls goaltender Anthony Tremonte with 37 saves for the shutout.
Niagara Falls Canucks: Andrew Bruno (38); Matthew Riva (21); Danial Singer (12).
St. Catharines Falcons: No scoring.
Game stats: Shots on goal: By St. Catharines on Anthony Tremonte (38), by Niagara Falls on Blair Coffin (38); Power plays: St. Catharines 0-for-3, Niagara Falls 0-for-4; Penalty minutes: St. Catharines 18, Niagara Falls 9.
Attendance: 617.
Up next: The Falcons wrap up the regular season Friday at home to Hamilton. The Canucks host Caledonia Friday and are in Pelham Sunday to conclude their regular season schedule.
SATURDAY
Corvairs 4 Falcons 1
Caledonia Corvairs: Dylan D’Agostino, Nick Giunta, Ryan Littlejohn, Joel Mazzilli.
St. Catharines Falcons: Curtis Egert.
Meteors 2 Regals 1 2 OT
Fort Erie Meteors: Michael Fazio, Drew Passero.
Buffalo Regals: Brendan Krawczyk.
SUNDAY
Canucks 11 Junior Canadians 5
Niagara Falls Canucks: Andrew Bruno 3; Carson Edwardson 2; Brodie Thoms 2; Justin Kyle, Matthew Riva, Danial Singer, Cody Wall.
Welland Junior Canadians: Jason Horvat, Brandon Stojcevski, Ivan Osminin, James Gowland, Dante Masse.
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