Weekend junior hockey roundup: IceDogs roll on; Junior B wrap-up
Kirill Maksimov had five goals over two games to lead the Niagara IceDogs to a pair of wins. Photo: OHL IMAGES
The Niagara IceDogs made it three wins in a row with a convincing 5-1 road victory over the Hamilton Bulldogs Sunday afternoon.
Coupled with a 7-2 win at Kitchener Friday, the IceDogs (16-7-4-1) sit tied with the Sudbury Wolves atop the Central Division with 36 points. The Wolves have one more victory.
Kirill Maksimov, who Friday night netted a hat trick in Kitchener, continued his torrid scoring with two more Sunday.
Ivan Lodnia, Jason Robertson and Bradey Johnson added singles.
Brandon Saigeon had the lone Hamilton goal.
Rookie Christian Sbaraglia got the start in goal for Niagara and turned back 26 shots for his first Ontario Hockey League victory.
Niagara led 2-0 after one period and 3-0 after two.
Friday in Kitchener, Lodnia, Philip Tomasino, Akil Thomas and Robertson added singles in addition to Maksimov’s three goals.
Robertson has four goals and 14 points in five games for the IceDogs since being picked up from Kingston in a trade.
Stephen Dhillon made 17 saves in net for the win.
The IceDogs are home to Saginaw (14-10-1-1-2) Thursday and North Bay (11-15-1-0-1) Saturday.
JUNIOR B
PANTHERS 3 FALCONS 2 OT
The Pelham Panthers turned the tables on the St. Catharines Falcons Sunday.
After dropping a 4-3 decision in overtime at St. Catharines Friday, the Panthers rebounded with a 3-2 overtime win at home.
The Panthers rallied with a late goal by Adam Scholz to tie the game at 2-2 before Matt Ruigrok won it 2:45 into the extra period.
Zach Thompson also scored for Pelham, who fell behind 2-0.
Christian Girhiny and Tanner Main replied for the Falcons, who dropped to 17-3-0-2 and had their seven-game winning streak snapped. The Falcons have picked up points in 18 straight.
St. Catharines host Fort Erie Friday.
The Panthers are at Fort Erie Saturday and home to Lockport Sunday afternoon.
BLACKHAWKS 5 JUNIOR CANADIANS 2
The Thorold Blackhawks evened their record at 11-11-1-1 with a win at Welland Sunday night.
Trevor Neumann paced the Hawks with two goals while Devon Thibodeau, Owen Allan and Blair Jenkins also scored.
Former Hawk Matthew Maidens and Matt Baumann scored for the Junior Canadians, who fell to 6-16-0-2 and have lost eight of their last nine.
The Hawks also dropped a 2-1 decision in overtime at home to the Niagara Falls Canucks Saturday.
Former Blackhawk David D’Agostino won it for the Canucks 2:53 into the extra period.
Justin Schneider gave Niagara Falls a 1-0 lead in the second before Nick Gidney scored for Thorold with nine seconds to play in the second.
The Hawks are in Hamilton Monday and home to Lockport Thursday.
METEORS 5 REGALS 2
Five players hit the scoresheet at the Fort Erie Meteors topped the Lockport Regals at home Saturday.
Evan Miller, Ethan Culp, Luca Mazzo, Marco Lariccia and Brady Lee scored for the Meteors, who improved to 8-16-0-1.
Erich Thur and Nolan Slachetka replied for Lockport.
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