Sailors sink Panthers
The Pelham Panthers could not have picked a worse time to have an off night.
The Panthers dropped a 6-1 decision to the Port Colborne Sailors in a Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League game Thursday night in Port Colborne.
It was a costly loss for the Sailors who fell out of the eighth and final playoff position thanks to Brantford’s 6-3 win over the Cambridge RedHawks.
The Titans now lead the Sailors by one point with two games remaining. The Sailors are in Caledon Saturday and home to the Titans Sunday night in a matchup that will likely decide who qualifies for the playoffs and who goes home.
Pelham head coach/assistant general manager Zac Rinaldo didn’t mince words when asked about the game.
“We just got outworked and outcompeted,” he said. “There was no other rhyme or reason.”
Rinaldo said the Panthers are battling a bug going through the room, but he wouldn’t use that as a factor.
“I’m not one for excuses, but we are going through some illnesses in the dressing room. Guys are not feeling their best and that’s the reality, but again, how bad to you want it, how mentally strong are you?”
Rinaldo said he’s not about to turn the page on the loss just yet with a day off before Saturday’s matchup with Caledon.
“I’m going to take pieces of it and hopefully they feel that burning of losing because losing hasn’t been in our bag for a while so I hope it burns,” he said. “I hope it stings and I hope they can understand what they need to do better and where we need to make corrections. At the end of the day, there’s two games left and our team knows what we expect, what our culture is, what our work ethic should be on a daily, on a nightly basis, so right now it’s all up to them.”
The Panthers trailed 2-1 after two periods despite being outshot 34-14. Starting goaltender Gabriel Longo was sharp, keeping the score close, but the Sailors scored a pair of short-handed goals just 13 seconds apart just over two minutes into the third. Port then added to more before the halfway point of the final period.
“I’d be OK if we didn’t get outworked and outcompeted. The fact that we got outworked and outcompeted and lost that way, that doesn’t sit well with me” Rinaldo said. “If it was a tight game or they were doing something and we just couldn’t adjust to it, totally I understand that, but there’s no excuses realistically for being outworked and outcompeted.”
In other action Thursday, the Caledonia Corvairs did the St. Catharines Falcons and Fort Erie Meteors a favour defeating the Ayr Centennials 5-3.
The Falcons lead the Eastern Conference with 72 points and two games remaining. Ayr is one point back with one game left while the Meteors are three back with two games to play.
The Falcons can clinch first place with a win over the Meteors Friday at the Seymour-Hannah Sports Complex.
STATS
Sailors 6 Panthers 1
Port’s Jalen Lobo with a pair of goals.
Port Colborne Sailors: Jalen Lobo 2 (6,7); Brody Coe (24); Easton Lynds (21); Andrew Kennedy (11); Hudson Wozney (7).
Pelham Panthers: Mason Goodfellow (13);
Game stats: Shots on goal: By Port Colborne on Gabriel Longo (34)(, on Logan Snyder (4) by Pelham on JJ Salajko (16), Power plays: Port Colborne 0/3, Pelham 0/4; Penalty minutes: Port Colborne 10, Pelham 8.
Attendance: 378.
Up next: The Panthers are at Caledon Saturday and home to Brantford Sunday at 7:15 p.m. to conclude the regular season.
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