Falcons hold off Canucks
Christian Girhiny came ready to play Friday.
The 20-year-old Thorold resident has been among the best players in the GOJHL since his arrival from the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League and once again showed why he is a difference maker.
Girhiny scored three straight goals in the first period as the St. Catharines Falcons held off the Niagara Falls Canucks 6-5 in a Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League, Golden Horseshoe Conference game at Jack Gatecliff Arena.
The Falcons improved to 29-4-0-2 and moved within a point of the Canucks for first place. The Falcons also own a game in hand.
The Canucks saw their six-game winning streak come to an end and dropped to 30-5-0-1.
“It’s definitely nice to get that lead, but it was only the first period,” Girhiny said. “It wasn’t their best period. They ran into some penalty issues and we capitalized.”
Girhiny admitted the Falcons were pumped up to play the Canucks after losing the first three matchups of the season. The teams last met in late October.
“We had a long wait against them,” said Girhiny, who has 29 goals and 68 points in 24 games. “We want first place and we’re going to do whatever it takes.
“They’re a really good team. You have to give them kudos for battling back like that.”
Falcons coach/general manager Frank Girhiny felt the first period was among the best opening 20 minutes of the season for his club.
“We were prepared,” he said. “We practised for it all week and we had a good pre-game talk and then they did it.”
The Falcons built a 4-0 lead in the first before the Canucks got on the board with under a minute to play when Andrew Bruno banked a shot off Tanner Brown’s skate.
The Canucks got to within striking distance at 4-2 when former Falcon Nichols Prestia scored. St. Catharines then added two more to take a 6-2 lead before Niagara Falls got one back before the end of the period to trail 6-3 after two.
Niagara Falls then continued to claw back and netted two more to climb to within one before running out of time.
“At the end of the game it was 6-5 and we won,” Frank Girhiny said. “Regardless of how the outcome came, we were up and we won.”
With so much at stake, both teams brought a little more intensity to the table and the result was a chippy, penalty-filled affair.
St. Catharines defenceman Nicholas Boehmer and Niagara Falls forward Patrick McCabe were particularly aggressive and at each other’s throats all game.
“To be champions, you can’t beat yourself and we took some undisciplined penalties and so did they,” Frank Girhiny said. “We capitalized and overall it was a real good effort considering the last two weeks the way were we’re playing.
“That was a great game by our guys, and by their guys.”
The Falcons netted three goals on the power play while the Canucks went scoreless in seven opportunities with the man advantage.
“We didn’t come out to the gate properly,” Canucks coach Frank Pietrangelo said. “Our penalty killing wasn’t good enough and we didn’t score on the power play.
“We showed character fighting back when we were down 4-0 and almost got a point, but beyond that, I was very disappointed in our game tonight.”
Falcon facts: Joe Colasurdo and Dawson McKinney did not dress for the Falcons . . . Garrett Downie and Griffin Green were scratched for the Canucks . . . Girhiny (offence), Tanner Brown (defence) and Jack McGovern (goaltending) of St. Catharines were honoured as players of the month for December . . . Carson Edwardson and Jacob Roach each collected four assists for the Falcons. Ryan Smith had three helpers for the Falls.
Falcons 6 Canucks 5
BSPN Star of the Game: Christian Girhiny of St. Catharines with three goals.
St. Catharines Falcons: Girhiny 3 (27,28,29); Jacob Roach (24); Kyle West (16); Mike Masotti (5).
Niagara Falls Canucks: Pat McCabe 2 (14,15); Andrew Bruno (16); Matthew Riva (11); Nicholas Prestia (4).
Game stats: Shots on goal: By St. Catharines on Zach Moore (27), by Niagara Falls on Noah Battaglia (29); Power plays: St. Catharines 3-for-6, Niagara Falls 0-for-7; Penalty minutes: St. Catharines 22, Niagara Falls 50.
Attendance: 781
Up next: The Falcons visit the Canucks Sunday at 3 p.m.
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