Canucks facing elimination
Dillon Hill has spent a huge chunk of the last four years wearing the uniform of the Niagara Falls Canucks.
The 20-year-old Niagara Falls native played the 229th game of his career Tuesday night as the Canucks dropped a 3-2 decision to the Waterloo Siskins at the Gale Centre and now trail Waterloo 3-0 in the best-of-seven Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League Sutherland Cup semifinal series.
“I have never played this many games with anyone and Frank (Pietrangelo) and all the staff have been great to me,” he said. “It’s a great organization and it has been fantastic to play here.”
The 6-foot-4, 200-pound defenceman isn’t conceding anything to the Siskins, but knows his days as a Canuck are in jeopardy.
“This (Tuesday’s game) might be my last home game so hopefully we can win another one and get to come back,” he said. “It’s getting emotional right now and I can’t think of the end.”
After Tuesday’s game, Hill posed for pictures on the ice with his parents, Shelly and Sean Hill, and grandmother, Monique Hill.
“They have been rocks for me,” he said. “They are big supporters, they come to every game no matter where it is, they are there 30 minutes before warmups and they are the last to leave.”
They have been a crucial part of his hockey journey.
“It’s everything,” Hill said. “Without them, I wouldn’t be where I am today. They have been with me since age three all the way up and they supported me no matter what I wanted to do.”
Hill is hoping to see the Gale Centre again.
“The fourth game is the hardest one to win, we’re going to come out and give it our all and hopefully get back in the series.
“We have to start with one game and work from there.”
It won’t be easy against a Waterloo team that seems to take advantage of every opportunity it gets.
“They are really good on the power play and they find the open guy out there,” said Hill, the recipient of the 2018-19 Dave Dunham Trophy as the Golden Horseshoe Conference’s most valuable defenceman. “When we get a goal, we get a penalty and they come down and score again.”
A dejected Pietrangelo thought his team played well Tuesday night.
“I thought we were the better team tonight, but we didn’t capitalize on our opportunities,” the head coach said. “It’s a shame. We had 40 shots on net and their goalie played really well tonight.”
Pietrangelo is anything but pleased with the number of penalties his team has accumulated in the series. The penalty totals in the two games at the Gale Centre have been lopsided against Niagara Falls with margins of 50-18 in Game 1 and 52-10 in Game 3.
“The 10-minute misconducts and stuff like that are a little bit ridiculous,” he said. “This is the Sutherland Cup semifinals and we are not asking for any favours here, but what is happening here is absolutely ridiculous. It’s not right.”
Waterloo coach Todd Hoffman expected the Canucks to come flying and they did.
“They came out and played real hard and I knew Game 3 was going to be their best effort. You don’t want to go down 3-0 in a series,” he said. “I thought we were real slow in the first period, the second period we started to pick it up a little bit and I thought we were the better team in the third.
“The outcome was what it was, our goaltender played well and we capitalized on our chances.”
The Siskins have done that all series.
“We have some real high-end players and we find ways to do that,” Huffman said. “They find ways to find the back of the net in key situations and when teams make mistakes, you have to make sure you capitalize on them.”
Waterloo would like to continue to capitalize on its chances and end the series at home Thursday night.
“We have to make sure we come out in Game 4 and play the right way,” Hoffman said. “We can’t take anything for granted. Niagara Falls has a good hockey club and they are going to come out and play hard.
“We have to make sure we start on time and don’t wait for the third period to get our game going.”
The Canucks played an excellent first period, oushooting the Siskins 18-8 and having the majority of decent chances. There was only a handful of good chances though as both teams kept the other to the outside. Hill scored on the power play for the Canucks when his point shot eluded Siskins’ goalie Matt Onuska.
Niagara Falls continued its strong play for the first four minutes of the second but its only reward was a shot that rang off the post.
Following a Niagara Falls penalty after the whistle, Waterloo’s Alex Lycett tied it up on the power play. The goal sparked the Siskins and Falls goalie Zack Moore was forced to make three excellent saves near the midway point of the period.
Niagara Falls rearguard Eric Becker made the defensive play of the second period when he stopped a four-on-one with a sprawling block of a centering pass. The Canucks started to come on again after that and were given a chance to regain the lead when Waterloo took a high-sticking penalty behind the play. Patrick McCabe made the Siskins pay with a power play goal with 1:20 left in the period. It was McCabe’s third goal and fifth point of the the series. After the goal, McCabe somehow picked up a roughing penalty and a 10-minute misconduct for inciting an opponent. The Canucks outshot the Siskins 14-10 in the frame.
Waterloo took advantage of McCabe’s minor and tied the game 28 seconds into the third period on a goal by Jeff Schratter. Waterloo then took its first lead of the game when Lycett scored on the power play at the 5:23 mark of the period. It was Lycett’s fifth goal of the series.
STATS PACK
Siskins 3 Canucks 2
BPSN Star of the Game: Waterloo’s Alex Lycett with two goals..
For the Niagara Falls Canucks: Dillon Hill (7); Patrick McCabe (8)..
For the Waterloo Siskins: Lycett (11, 12), Jeff Schratter (8).
Game stats: Shots on goal: by Niagara Falls on Matt Onuska 40; by Waterloo on Zack Moore 36. Power plays: Niagara Falls 2-3, Waterloo 3-4. Penalty minutes: Niagara Falls 52, Waterloo 10.
Attendance: 823.
Up next: Game 4 of the series is Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex in Waterloo followed by Game 5 (if necessary) Friday at 7 p.m. at the Gale Centre in Niagara Falls.
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