Falcons power past Panthers
A pair of games on the sidelines were two too many for Tyler Hunt.
The 20-year-old sniper returned to the lineup Sunday following a two-game suspension and quickly made his presence felt with a four-point effort as the St. Catharines Rankin Construction Falcons defeated the Pelham Panthers 7-2 at Pelham.
The Falcons now lead the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League best-of-seven quarter-final playoff series 2-0. Game 3 is Tuesday in St. Catharines.
“It did (drive me crazy sitting out),” Hunt said. “I was itching for this one.”
Hunt wasted no time getting back into the swing of things, scoring less than three minutes into the game. He added a second goal later and also chipped in with a pair of assists.
“A little bit of stress off the back and just gets the bugs out, or whatever you want to call it,” Hunt said. “It felt good.”
Hunt’s production Sunday— had had 23 goals and 22 assists in just 28 games after being brought in from the Cobourg Cougars of the Ontario Junior A Hockey League — came as no surprise to Falcons general manager/coach Tyler Bielby.
“He’s a Player of the League nominee for a reason,” Bielby said. “He does everything right, he’s got a pro shot. It’s a big difference to get a 20-year-old in who averages almost two points per game in the regular season and he does exactly that in his first playoff game.”
The Falcons took a quick 2-0 lead in the first period, just as they had in Game 1. But unlike in the opener when the let the Panthers back into the game, this time they slammed the door shut, increasing their lead to 6-1 after 40 minutes.
“On Friday we were up 2-0 and we let them back in the game and started spinning a bit,” Bielby said. “We have to play that full 60 to get the W. The difference today was we came out in the second and didn’t let them get under our skin and put them away and that allowed us to control the third and just get out of here.”
The Falcons excelled on special teams, scoring three times on the power play and twice shorthanded.
“We spend time, even on the penalty kill, it’s something we take pride in,” Bielby said. “This year is actually slipped, it got under 90 per cent, so we’ve been putting in a lot of work and the power play is talent. We have some nice forwards and we give them a nice structure and make sure we adjust. All the credit goes to them, they’re the ones with the skates on the ice.”
A pair of fights broke out near the end, something Bielby had no time for.
“These kids are full of pride and you never want to have to turtle, for lack of a better term, but that’s exactly what we’re asking them to do,” he said. “We’re here to win hockey games and to play hockey. Never mind that nonsense. It’s been two games of it and we’re just going to continue to show up and play.”
Hunt said the best way to deal with the extra curricular activity is to keep the big picture in mind.
“You just have to keep your focus on the end goal and not get into the BS and scrums and whatnot,” he said.
Pelham coach Zac Rinaldo is hopeful his team can rebound from the effort.
“We’ve been struggling all year when we come out and we’re so ready to play hockey and two soft goals go in and it took the life out of us,” he said. “We didn’t have that pushback and fight to get back into the game quick enough.
“We have to let this sit in our gut and have a crappy feeling. We need to let it sit and manifest in our stomach and regroup tomorrow and re-attack the game Tuesday.”
Falcon facts: Grayson Gare, Calvin Petrovsky, William Moore, Treyson Dewar and Dallys Hibbert were scratched for the Falcons . . . Owen Messina, Caleb MacLeish, Thomas Sefton and Patrick Sutherland did not dress for the Panthers . . . AP defenceman Tyler Rowland had a solid game on defence for the Falcons.
Falcons 7 Panthers 2
St. Catharines forward Tyler Hunt with a pair of goals and two assists.
St. Catharines Falcons: Tyler Hunt 2 (1, 2); Brenden Anderson 2 (1, 2); Caleb Thompson (2); Dylan Pergentile (1); Owen Simpson (1).
Pelham Panthers: Liam Wicks 2 (2, 3).
Game stats: Shots on goal: By St. Catharines on Aiden Thompson/Carter Vincente (34), by Pelham on Hayden Jeffery (29); Power plays: St. Catharines 3/7, Pelham 1/6; Penalty minutes: St. Catharines 25; Pelham 37.
Attendance: 375
Up next: The Falcons are back home Tuesday to take on the Panthers for Game 3.
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