Meteors rally past RedHawks

The Fort Erie Meteors rallied from a 4-2 second-period deficit Saturday night to defeat the visiting Cambridge RedHawks 5-4 in their opening game of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League playoffs.

Leading the way for the third-seeded Meteors was Sam Tonelli, the player Fort Erie general manager/head coach Nik Passero describes as the best player in the league. The 19-year-old Port Colborne native scored twice in the game, including the game winner on a four-on-three power play with 9:18 left on the clock.

“He is the best player in the league and I thought today was one of his best 200-foot efforts,” Passero said. “Killing penalties, winning face-offs, scoring big goals, best player in the league.”

He feels there are a number of things which makes Tonelli special.

“Speed first of all. He is so fast and he’s not scared of anything. He is not the smallest, he is not the biggest but he is so fast and when the team needs him, he knows it. Another thing is the best players in junior hockey are a little selfish but he only wants to win and only wants to make his line-mates better. He is an impressive kid.”

Tonelli was thankful for Passero’s comment.

“It is a great feeling and it’s great that he has that trust and feeling towards me but it is high expectations to live up to. I try my best to bring it every night and do what I can for our team.”

Netting important goals is a key part of it for the Eastern Conference All-Star.

“I guess so,” he said, with a smile.

Tonelli was all over the ice Saturday and during one stretch, he had two short-handed breakaways on the same shift. It seemed like the puck was following him around all night.

“Sometimes I am around the puck and I try to make things happen when I am around it.”

The 5-foot-10, 160-pounder feels increased confidence is the biggest development in his game this season.

“I am a lot more confident with the puck and in my skill level. I’m going out there knowing I can do it and I am doing it.”

He knows speed is a big component of his game.

“It has developed with age and hard work but I have always thought that I was one of the quicker guys on the ice.”

Despite his defensively-stingy squad allowing four goals, Passero was happy with the performance of his squad.

“I am very pleased. I thought we were the better team in the first, I thought we were the better team for 18 minutes of the second and I thought we were the better team in the third,” he said. “We turned the gas off a bit in the second but we were still pretty good. Their goalie made 10 10-bell saves so what can you do? Our guy played great but their guy made 10 saves that I don’t think I’ve seen all year.”

After losing three of four to the RedHawks in the regular season, it was important for the Mets to open with a victory.

“The whole league has seen that they had our number during the regular season and they were the only team that really did,” Passero said. “But in this group, we’ve got belief and to win that first one and get on the right foot is important.”

Tonelli agreed with his coach.

“It was massive. It’s a good thing for our team to know we are the better team and we can beat them. Claiming home ice in the first game was definitely a must.”

There was no panic in the Fort Erie dressing room between the second and third periods.

“It was ‘Shut up and go to work.’ That’s it. We were a little bit yappy in the first and second and we weren’t as focused as a playoff team should be,” Passero said.

Tonelli too wasn’t worried.

“We thought we were outplaying them and stuff really wasn’t going our way. We knew we had to stick with it, maybe a little bit more than we were. That’s what we did.”

STATS PACK

Meteors 5 RedHawks 4

Fort Erie’s Sam Tonelli with two goals.

Fort Erie Meteors: Sam Tonelli (2); Cameron Thorpe (1); Jack Ryan (1); Hunter Coley (1).

Cambridge RedHawks: Josh Kaufman (1); Seth Huygen (1); Jake Skuta (1); Charlie Pys (1).

Game stats: Shots one goal: By Fort Erie on Lennart Neisse 35, by Cambridge on John Lloyd 35. Power plays: Fort Erie 1/5, Cambridge 1/4. Penalty minutes: Fort Erie 15, Cambridge 18.

Up next: Game 2 of the series is Tuesday in Cambridge followed by Game 3 Saturday at 7 p.m. in Fort Erie.

Attendance: 950.