Falcons hold off Kilty B’s
The St. Catharines Rankin Construction Falcons’ depth down the middle was tested to the max Friday night in a 4-3 victory over the visiting Hamilton Kilty B’s in Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League action.
The Falcons top three centres — Cam Lowe, Brendan Grenville and Matt Fries — were all out of action forcing president of hockey operations and head coach Tyler Bielby to get creative with his lineup.
“The beauty of it is Zack (general manager Zack Schipper) and I built a team with some depth,” Bielby said. “These young guys, we reminded them you’re not rookies anymore. We’re 45 games in, so this is where you get to step up and next man up.
“We played a game tonight without three leaders so there’s a bit of an adjustment. We had some wingers learning the position in the middle for the first time but for the most part we did a pretty good job.”
Rookie Dillon Atkinson picked up an assist and was his usual responsible self away from the puck at centre. So trustworthy is Atkinson, Bielby often uses him in key situations defensively with the game on the line as he did Friday as the Kilty B’s stormed back from a 4-0 deficit in the third.
“He’s the most responsible 16-year-old that’s come through my doors,” Bielby said. “You don’t meet too many guys that age that just love playing off the puck and doing the right things.
“He just loves doing the right things. It’s been a pleasure all year. He’s a great kid. He works extremely hard. He’s very respectful of everybody around him. He’s got a bright future.”
Atkinson, who has six goals and 26 points in 44 games, appreciates the faith shown in him.
“It’s nice to have the trust that the coach puts me on there,” Atkinson said. “I’m just kind of try to do my thing and just play it like I can and get the puck out.”
Atkinson said there is a level of trust on the team which is crucial with the playoffs looming.
“Yeah, that’s so important. If we want to win, everyone’s going to have to buy in,” he said. “There’s not one person in here that can’t, so everyone’s going to buy in if we want to win.”
Up 4-0 early in the third, it appeared Hayden Jeffery might have a shot at a shutout but a goal by Ryan Woodburn from an odd angle at 10:43 got Hamilton on the board. The Kilty B’s then made things interesting with a pair of goals 41 seconds apart to narrow the gap to one.
“You build a lead like that, and I guess we got on our heels,” Bielby said. “We were just starting to think about tomorrow, but I made sure we talked to them after the game. I said that’s not good enough. We felt we had a nice lead. It started with a bad goal, and so that can’t happen either. That’s how momentum starts.
“At the end of the day we trust our boys. We got to chat about it. We’ll take the two points, that’s important this time of year, and we’ll get ready for Fort Erie.”
The win gives the Falcons a three-point cushion over Ayr for first place. The Falcons have four games remaining, the Centennials five.
The Falcons visit the Meteors Saturday. Fort Erie trails St. Catharines by nine points but have three games in hand and could make things interesting with a win.
Bielby is looking forward to the matchup.
“I think with Fort Erie and a couple of other teams in the league that we’ve created these great rivalries with, those are fun to play. A lot of respect for the other side, and I’m sure there’s some respect back.
“We just have to make sure we go and work and play the way we can.”
Lowe has two more games left in a suspension while Bielby listed Fries and Grenville as week-to-week.
Falcon facts: Cameron Lowe, Brendan Grenville, Matt Fries and Dallys Hibbert were scratched for the Falcons.
STATS PACK
Falcons 4 Kilty B’s 3
St. Catharines forward Ally Mostafaie with a pair of goals.
St. Catharines Falcons: Ally Mostafaie 2 (21, 22); Nathan Duplessis (25); Lachlan Sucher (7).
Hamilton Kilty B’s: Luca Campolo 2 (16, 17); Ryan Woodburn (15).
Game stats: Shots on goal: By St. Catharines on Avery Alves (30), by Hamilton on Hayden Jeffery (25); Power plays: St. Catharines 2/5, Hamilton 0/4; Penalty minutes: St. Catharines 10, Hamilton 22.
Attendance: 419.
Up next: The Falcons are in Fort Erie Saturday and are back home to Hamilton next Friday.
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