Sailors bottle up Falcons
The Port Colborne Sailors gave the St. Catharines Rankin Construction Falcons all they could handle in Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League action Friday night at the Seymour-Hannah Sports Complex.
The Sailors turned in a solid overall defensive effort to hold off the Falcons 2-1 to improve 18-11-2-1.
The Falcons drop to 24-8-0-1. They are still tied for first place in the Eastern Conference with the Ayr Centennials with 49 points although Ayr holds three games in hand.
Falcons president of hockey operations/head coach Tyler Bielby tipped his cap to the hard-working Sailors.
“I mean, credit where is due,” Bielby said. “Port Colborne did an excellent job in their own zone tonight. They didn’t let a lot of pucks through. They soaked up a lot of pucks. We just have to work a little harder to get to the house so that when they make that block, that puck’s sitting there and we’re the first one on the puck rather than them.”
Bielby would have liked to see a little more urgency from his charges.
“I thought we did a lot of things well tonight but I want to make sure we’re getting to the house. It’s just a little more O-zone possession and that’s playing with confidence and cycling the puck and wearing teams down. I thought that we made it a little too easy for them to knock us off the puck and bring it in, but that being said, that was a great hockey game coming off the break. We have to find a way to be on the right side of it and just pick ourselves up and be ready to go tomorrow.”
It was the first game for both teams following the Christmas break. Bielby said he kept in contact with the team over the holidays and that the team was able to get some work in this week.
“We got on the ice a couple times this week leading up to the game to make sure we were ready to go,” Bielby said. “Went through all our zones and you can tell Port Colborne did the same. I mean a 2-1 hockey game after a break and both teams were very well structured in their own zone and didn’t get much off them outside of the breakaways and we’ve got to clean that up.”
The Falcons were without five players, including captain Cam Lowe and forward Matt Fries.
Bielby isn’t concerned the remaining players have been waiting for Lowe and Fries to return.
“I think that we have to keep some things in perspective,” he said. “I’m extremely happy and proud of the group so far this year. There’s a lot of work to do. We’re missing two of the top centres in the league, in my opinion. Yet these guys, they’re finding ways to stay at the top in the conference.
“We went into the break leading the entire province in points and we’ve done that without guys like Fries all season. So I think that it’s important to give credit where it’s due to these guys.”
Bielby reported Lowe has been cleared to return while Fries is still listed as day-to-day.
Former Falcon Easton Lynds gave the Sailors a 1-0 lead with his 12th of the season late in the second before Trent Gates responded to knot the game at 1-1.
Brody Coe netted the winner early in the third when he pounced on a loose puck in front of Falcons netminder Hayden Jeffery.
The Falcons will lose forward Lachlan Suchar in the second week of January when he travels to Serbia to play for Team Australia in the World Junior Championships in Division 2.
Falcon facts: Kaleb Lyttleton, Cameron Lowe, Jordan Marconi, Matt Fries and William Moore were scratched for the Falcons . . . Andrew Willis and Joshua Lamb did not dress for the Sailors . . . The Pelham Panthers edged the Welland Junior Canadians 7-5 at home Friday to improve to 9-18-5. The Panthers hold down the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.
STATS PACK
Sailors 2 Falcons 1
Port Colborne’s Easton Lynds
St. Catharines Falcons: Trent Gates (4).
Port Colborne Sailors: Brody Coe (15); Easton Lynds (12).
Game stats: Shots on goal: By St. Catharines on JJ Salajko (26), by Port Colborne on Hayden Jeffery (25); Power plays: St. Catharines 0/3, Port Colborne 0/3; Penalty minutes: St. Catharines 18, Port Colborne 18.
Attendance: 549.
Up next: The Falcons head to Caledon Saturday at 8 p.m. and are back home next Friday against Pelham.
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