Cats tamed by Corvairs night after upsetting B’s
The Pelham Panthers’ return to the winning track was shortlived.
After snapping a nine-game losing streak with an upset of the Welland Junior Canadians Friday in Pelham, the junior B hockey team was blanked 9-0 by the Caledonia Corvairs the following night on the road.
Adam Craievich, Zachary Core and Ryan Punkari, with two goals each; Evan Bidenti, Brandon Lindberg, Christian Montachino found the back of the net for Caledonia which won its 13th in a row to improve to a Golden Horseshoe Conference- and Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League-leading 26-4-1-0.
Daniel Chenard earned his third shutout of the season as the three-time defending Sutherland Cup champion Corvairs outshot Pelham 50-14.
Dillon Lamarche, seven goals on 37 shots; and Tyler McCarthy, two goals on 13 shots; shared goaltending duties for Pelham which fell to 7-18-0-4 in league play.
Caledonia went 3-for-13 on the power play; the Panthers, 0-for8. It was the fourth meeting in the season series, with the Corvairs the victor every one of them.
Pelham is back on the ice Friday for a 7:30 p.m. home game against the Buffalo Regals. The following night has the Panthers in Fort Erie for a 7:15 puck drop against the Meteors.
Panthers 2, Junior Canadians 1
At Pelham, Dillon Lamarche fell 21 seconds short of earning a shutout when his Panthers played the visiting Welland Junior Canadians Friday night.
But he had first star of the game honours nailed down long before Nathan Ellis found the back of the net for the Junior Canadians, who had their goalie on the bench in favour of an extra attacker.
Lamarche made 41 saves as the Panthers skated to an upset victory for their first win over Welland this season and their first in 10 games versus their closest rival.
Mathiau Young and Giusten Annetta, on the power play in his first game for Pelham; provided the offence as the Panthers snapped a nine-game losing streak despite being outshot 42-22 on their home ice.
Junior Canadians suffered their sixth straight loss to fall to 13-15-0-2. They were scheduled to host the 0-28 Buffalo Regals Sunday at Welland Arena.
Results of last night’s game were unavailable at press time, but a summary is posted online at www.wellandtribune.ca.
Buffalo failed to show up the last time the league’s lone U.S. team was scheduled to face the Junior Canadians in Welland.
Blair Coffin was tagged with the loss in Friday’s game in Pelham. It was the 16-year-old Dain City resident’s first game back in the B’s lineup since suffering a “lower-body injury” nearly two weeks ago.
Neither team’s power play was particularly effective in Round 4 of this season’s Battle of Quaker Road. Pelham finished the game 1-for-7 with a man advantage; Welland, 0-for-6.
The Junior Canadians still lead the season series three wins to one, six points to three. The Panthers earned a consolation point in 5-4 overtime loss in the last meeting in the regional rivalry.
Friday night’s whistle-to-whistle win snapped a 10-game losing streak versus Welland in headto-head play. The Panthers’ last victory against the B’s was a 5-4 decision at home Feb. 10, 2015.