Falcons rebound with shutout

The visiting St. Catharines Rankin Construction Falcons hockey team bounced back nicely from a Tuesday defeat by knocking off the Pelham Panthers 4-0 Thursday night in Game 4 of their best-of-seven Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League quarter-final playoff series.

“I liked that the boys showed up and competed for their goaltender. Hayden (Jeffery) has been so good for us all year. He has worked so hard and he is such a nice young kid,” Falcons head coach Tyler Bielby said. “Game 3 wasn’t a great one for him and to see him show up and be ready to go and to see the boys play hard for him, we are pretty happy with that.”

Jeffery’s best saves of the night came in the second period with his team leading 2-0 and the Falcons facing a five-on-three power play.

“It was him and all the guys on the ice. I want to make sure they get the credit,” Bielby said. “We actually asked them to stand up between the second and third and we said, ‘In playoffs guys, you have to understand that is the difference. It is a two-goal game and going on a five-on-three it could be 2-2 going into the third.’ Instead a big kill and we got two more to extend the lead and it allowed us to come in and breathe a little easier in the intermission.”

Bielby loves when his goalies have short memories.

“We told him that we believe in him and we love and care about him. I also reminded him that last night in the NHL, a $10 million-goalie got pulled because he couldn’t stop a puck.”

For Jeffery, the game represented his first career playoff shutout.

“It was really fun playing in the game. I thought all my forwards and defence played well and had my back, especially in the second period when we were killing the five-on-three,” the 17-year-old Grimsby native said.

The 6-foot-1, 170-pounder was making no excuses for his Tuesday performance.

“It was a rough game and it definitely wasn’t my best. The boys were doing well Tuesday and I felt like I wasn’t doing my job so I thought I had to do better today,” he said. “It is easy to play when the boys are playing well in front of me.”

He agrees that a short memory is crucial in a case like that.

“I just have to forget about it. It is going to happen and you are going to have bad games but as long as you forget about it, put it behind you and focus on what’s next, that’s the important part.”

He is enjoying his first taste of playoff junior B hockey.

“There is a big difference. Everyone wants to win, everyone is working just that much harder and it’s just a grind. Everyone has to be doing their job and working hard to win,” Jeffery said. “I think we have the right mindset and we just need to go out and do it.”

Pelham head coach Zac Rinaldo didn’t point to special teams as costing his team the game but it sure didn’t help. Pelham was 0-6 on the power play and the Falcons were 2-4.

“We have to stay out of the box and capitalize on our chances and we didn’t.”

What did play a major role in the game was Pelham’s unsuccessful five-on-three power play.

“We hit the post and we hit a couple off the goalie’s knob of his stick which could have easily gone in the net,” he said. “But at the end of the day they capitalized on their chances and we didn’t and that was the difference in the game.”

Things went from bad to worse shortly after the power play ended when a Pelham defenceman fell down and the Falcons jumped on a loose puck to make it 3-0.

“Those are daggers and you don’t like to see it happen especially catching an edge. Those are out of your control and those really hurt but I don’t think we started on time,” Rinaldo said. “I thought we were chasing the game and that is a common theme with us right now. We need to start on time and we will be ready to start tomorrow.”

The Falcons can now end the series Friday night at home.

“We have to make sure that we stay out of the box, play between the whistles and make sure we are ready to go,” Bielby said. “It’s playoffs and that team is not going anywhere. Zac has got that team working really hard and they are playing with a lot of pride and we have to make sure we match that tomorrow night if we want to close the series out.”

Rinaldo and his team will do their best to make sure that doesn’t happen.

“It is a long series. It’s playoff hockey and that is how you survive. It is a mentality that I have dealt with myself as a player and I am dealing with it the same way as a coach now,” he said. “I am trying to instil into their heads that it’s not over until it is over.”

STATS PACK

Falcons 4 Panthers 0

St. Catharines goalie Hayden Jeffery who made 32 saves to record the shutout.

St. Catharines Falcons: Dylan Pergentile (2); Caleb Thompson (3); Matthew Hlacar (2); Treason Dewar (2).

Pelham Panthers: No scoring.

Game stats: Shots on goal: By St. Catharines on Patrick Sutherland 32, by Pelham on Hayden Jeffery 32; Power plays: St. Catharines 2-4, Pelham 0-6; Penalty minutes: St. Catharines 22, Pelham 8.

Attendance: 355.

Up next: The Falcons can end the series Friday night at home.