Meteors blank Falcons
Fort Erie Meteors general/manager coach Nik Passero didn’t even try and hide his emotions when asked about what it means to defeat the St. Catharines Falcons.
“It’s always special beating them, it was special when I played but it didn’t happen all that often,” Passero said Saturday night following an exciting 2-0 win in Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League action at the Leisureplex. “You always get that little bit of anxiety when they’re in the building.
“It was great penalty killing, great defensive play by both teams. It’s not like they played bad, they played well too. It was awesome.”
The Meteors, who as recently as last season had more than their share of problems with the Falcons, have now taken five of six games versus St. Catharines this season. The teams meet once more in the regular season, Friday, March 1 in St. Catharines.
Passero loved everything about his club’s effort.
“That’s a playoff game, right there,” he said. “They took it personally when they started running Charlie (goaltender Charlie Burns). Our guys battled for each other. It’s a group of kids that wants to win and they want to win together.
“It’s pretty special.”
Burns made 33 saves for the shutout.
“It obviously felt really good. We knew coming in today they’re a good team and we knew we had to get the job done,” Burns said.
Burns began the season with the Meteors and was having a superb campaign when he was called up to the Niagara IceDogs. But Burns saw only one period of action in Niagara and was shipped back to the Meteors and his rights traded to the Erie Otters.
The Otters have called up Burns on a couple of occasions and the 18-year-old native of Sault Ste. Marie went 2-4 with a 3.96 goals-against average and one shutout at the Ontario Hockey League level.
“To get settled back in here feels good,” he said. “I was fortunate enough to get called up for a bit but to be back here is really exciting. I want to play at the highest level and that’s all part of the process and you have to trust that.”
Burns feels the time in the OHL was beneficial.
“It helped me a lot facing those bigger shots and older guys, it gave me some things I can bring back to my game here.”
Passero feels his goaltending is in good hands with Burns and John Lloyd.
“He’s been great and he played great tonight but John Lloyd has stepped up in his absence with a couple of shutouts and did what he had to do,” Passero said. “We have the best two goalies in the league and it’s not even close.”
Following two scoreless periods, the Meteors finally broke the deadlock early in the third when Sam Tonelli scored less than two minutes in. Hunter Coley then iced the game away with an empty-net goal, his 20th of the season, at the 18:23 mark.
The Falcons were assessed the first four minor penalties of the game and did a good job killing off seven power play opportunities for the Mets. The final stat sheet shows eight opportunities for Fort Erie but the Falcons were assessed a minor at the 20-minute mark of the third which counts as a power play. St. Catharines had five chances with the man advantage, including a two-man power play in the third.
“We had our chances. We created our chances, we just couldn’t score,” Falcons general manager/coach Tyler Bielby said. “I don’t want to panic on that because this team, that’s the last thing we struggle with is scoring. Tonight, we just couldn’t find a way to put it in the back of the net.”
Ask what he thought of his team’s performance, Bielby said: “Great hockey game, both teams.”
Bielby didn’t hesitate for a second when asked if he is worried the Meteors have the Falcons’ number.
“No, not at all. They’re a good team and so are we.”
The loss snapped a nine-game winning streak for the Falcons, who still lead Fort Erie by one point for second. The Meteors own two games in hand.
The Caledonia Corvairs topped the Welland Junior Canadians 5-1 Saturday and lead the Falcons by two points for first with three games in hand.
Metscellaneous: Cameron Thorpe did not dress for the Meteors . . . Luke Gualtieri, Jordan Marconi, William Moore and Marcus Harris were scratched for the Falcons.
STATS PACK
Meteors 2 Falcons 0
Fort Erie goaltender Charlie Burns with 33 saves for the shutout.
Fort Erie Meteors: Hunter Coley (20); Sam Tonelli (13).
St. Catharines Falcons: No scoring.
Game stats: Shots on goal: By Fort Erie on Hayden Jeffery (36), by St. Catharines on Charlie Burns (33); Power plays: Fort Erie 0/8, St. Catharines 0/5; Penalty minutes: Fort Erie 34, St. Catharines 40.
Attendance: 470
Up next: The Meteors are in Pelham Sunday at 2:45 and in Port Colborne Monday at 2:30. The Falcons are in Caledonia Monday.
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