Corvairs rally to tie series with Falcons
The St. Catharines Falcons were cruising Wednesday night in Caledonia and then the wheels came flying off.
Leading the Caledonia Corvairs 3-0 halfway through the second period, the Falcons looked like they were well on their way to taking a 3-1 stranglehold in their Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League, Golden Horseshoe Conference best-of-seven semifinal playoff series.
But then the Corvairs scored 42 seconds apart just past the halfway point of the second period and then tied it up on the power play with 1:49 left in the period.
Three straight goals in the third period, including an empty netter with 1:28 left in the game, gave the Corvairs a 6-3 victory and sent the series back to St. Catharines Friday night all tied at 2-2. Game time at the Seymour-Hannah Sports Complex is 7 p.m.
“We got into some penalty trouble. We took a couple of penalties and they were able to break down our PK (penalty kill) for the first time in the series and gained some momentum,” Falcons head coach Tyler Bielby said. “They got another power play goal early in the third period to take the lead.”
The Corvairs finished the night 3-4 on the power play.
“It was just missed assignments on our part; making sure we were in the shot-blocking lanes and watching for the back door,” he said.
It was a tough finish to a game that started great for the Sutherland Cup champions.
“We were playing really sound and well positionally in all three zones of the ice,” Bielby said. “It allowed us to build out that lead.”
It is now on to Friday night.
“It’s having a short memory. We know we are in a series. That is a good hockey team over there and we will be ready to go,” he said. “We will have a good practice tomorrow (Thursday) and be ready to get back at it on Friday. This is what it’s about. It’s being able to pick yourself up.”
The Falcons are slowly returning to the lineup they featured most of the season with players returning from injuries and suspensions.
“We are definitely getting close. We are getting a bunch of those guys back and then we find out Nate Shirton was suspended for two games from the last game,” Bielby said. “It is next guy up and it’s about being ready to play. We are happy to have Lowesy (Cameron Lowe) and Chris (Reid) back and now it’s time to get back to work on Friday.”
Scoring for the Falcons were Lowe, Boria and Parker Forlin. Assists were contributed by Blake Yetman, Carter Geoffroy, Chris Reid and Lucas Tuin.
Steven Laforme netted a pair of goals for the Corvairs and singles were scored by Ryan O’Donnell, Dylan Wardell, Dominic Mufarreh and Dylan Dekoe.
The Falcons outshot Caledonia 39-31
