Lynds lends a hand
Easton Lynds has fit in instantly with the St. Catharines Falcons.
The 16-year-old Thorold native made his junior debut before Christmas and Friday night scored his first two junior goals in just his second game as the Falcons defeated the Port Colborne Sailors 7-1 in Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League action at the Seymour-Hannah Sports Complex.
Lynds netted his first goal in the first period as the Falcons raced out to an early 3-0 lead and followed it up with his second on a nice deflection in the second period.
“It felt amazing,” Lynds said. “This team is something else. It’s super fun to be part of a junior team. It’s a big step up from U18 AAA to be in junior.
“It’s so fun to play with the junior guys.”
Falcons general manager/coach Tyler Bielby placed Lynds on a line with veteran snipers Nathan Kelly and Brenden Anderson and the rookie more than repaid the confidence shown in him.
“They’re incredible players and I was grateful to be on that line,” Lynds said. “They were giving me the extra look to try and hit me. They’re just great older guys who know the league and they were really helping me.”
Lynds had several chances to bury his third for a hat-trick.
“I was thinking about it too much, that’s why I couldn’t capitalize. I had way too many scoring chances but I couldn’t bury one at the end,” he said.
Bielby was more than impressed with Lynds.
“The whole room already loves Easton. First game he showed us he can play at this level and the boys were excited to have him back,” Bielby said. “I thought he was one of the best players on the ice between both teams.
“Those are the memories they can take with them forever. He’ll take this two goals and it will be a nice car ride. I know he had a lot of friends and family in the stands tonight and he definitely showed up for them.”
Bielby loves Lynds’ non-stop effort on the ice.
“On top of his motor, I noticed tonight he is very smart,” Bielby said. “He was putting good pucks into areas. He played with some elite guys tonight and I felt like he played right with them. He was making the plays they were making and he was successful. He probably could have had five tonight.”
Lynds was selected in the ninth round (173rd overall) of the 2023 Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection Saturday by the Peterborough Petes and is playing AAA in Peterborough this season where he has 18 goals and 40 points in 33 games.
He made the decision to play in Peterborough to be close the Petes.
“Just to be underneath their nose. I get to practice with them and train with them. Just to develop relationships with the staff,” he said.
Lynds hopes to crack the roster for the Petes next season.
“That’s what I’m going for. If that doesn’t work out, then I’ll come back and play some junior in Niagara and see where it goes from there,” he said.
The Falcons dominated from start to finish and stayed out of the penalty box as well, which was a huge plus for Bielby.
“It’s very simple and we talked about it all night. We don’t want beat ourselves and we talk a lot about discipline and we didn’t put them on a power play tonight,” he said. “That hasn’t happened this year and that was it. We were able to keep building on our lead instead of putting them on the power play. We were able to make it a 7-1 game instead of a 4-2 game.”
Falcon facts: Luke Gualtieri, Owen Simpson, Tyler Hunt, William Moore and Zach Mambella were scratched for the Falcons . . . Luke Hill, Val Johnston, Jonathan Graves, Cameron Colovin and Ryan Haeney did not dress for the Sailors . . . Bielby played junior C in Dunnville with Lynds father, Adam Lynds.
STATS PACK
Falcons 7 Sailors 1
Falcons forward Easton Lynds with his first two junior goals.
St. Catharines Falcons: Tanner Hunt 2 (6, 7); Easton Lynds 2 (1, 2); Treyson Dewar (21); Brenden Anderson (21); Mathew Hlacar (14).
Port Colborne Sailors: Nick Tymochenko (5).
Game stats: Shots on goal: By St. Catharines on Lucas Cardiff-Bilodeau (48), by Port Colborne on Hayden Jeffery (14); Power plays: St. Catharines 0/2, Port Colborne 0/0; Penalty minutes: St. Catharines 2, Port Colborne 6.
Attendance: 568.
Up next: The Falcons are in Welland Sunday and are back home next Friday to face the Meteors in their final regular season home game.
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