The McLean & Dickey Orillia Terriers and the Caledon Golden Hawks brought the offensive firepower on Saturday night in front of 198 local Jr. C hockey fans at Rotary Place. The Golden Hawks were on the winning side of the overtime thriller, upsetting the Terriers 6-5.
The Terriers were the first to crack the scoreboard during a power play opportunity when captain and right winger, Broderick Black, got to the slot where he unleashed a clapper for goal number 10 on the year.
“It’s big to get off to a good start. Usually you feed off of the first goal, and it’s always better to start ahead than behind,” Black said.
Although the Golden Hawks were only 3-11-1 coming into Saturday night, they were poised to give the hometown team everything they had. Forward Ayden Charlebois went bar down on a wrist shot for his first of the year which tied the game at one.
After forwards Mason Beck and Josh Brown added goals of their own for the Jr.C Terriers, the Hawks responded with three unanswered markers.
Late in the second period, forward Sam Pink was left wide open at the top of the point when Noah Mountain fed him a poass that Pink converted into his eighth goal of the season.
“I got it right off the draw. It was a big goal at that point, being down 4-3 against a team that we should be beating,” Pink said.
“It felt like it was going to be the goal that got us back in it, but unfortunately we couldn’t pull through at the end.”
Three minutes later, Pink returned the favour when he was credited with an assist for Mountain who banged away at a loose puck in front of the net to put the Terriers up 5-4.
“We’ve been playing with each other for the last couple of games and it seems like we complement each other really well out there,” Pink said about his chemistry with Mountain.
“We both got a couple of points on the board tonight, and I think we’ve made each other better each game. I like playing with him.”
The third period saw a back and forth battle which turned rough. Golden Hawks defenceman Darius Lasola and Terriers forward Mason Beck both received ten-minute game misconducts after pushing, shoving, and slashing in the Golden Hawks zone.
With less than five minutes left in the third, on a delayed penalty, Golden Hawks forward James McLean threw the puck from deep in the left corner to the net and it found its way through Terriers goalie Wade Monague for McLean’s second of the night.
“I thought I felt it hit my body, and then it kind of just slipped right through,” said Monague, who stopped 36 of the 42 shots on goal on Saturday.
In overtime, Terriers left winger Rylan Moulton got caught tripping in the neutral zone which sent the Golden Hawks to their second power play of the night.
Monague was being peppered with shots when finally, the Golden Hawks wore him down enough for James Mclean to complete the hat trick and end the game with a 6-5 Caledon win.
“I just didn’t make the stop. Tonight was probably my worst game I think,” Monague said.
“I think each game starts with the goalie and then everyone else gets into their rhythm. When your team scores five goals you are supposed to win.”
Black says the loss goes well beyond goaltending; it was simply an off game for the entire defensive unit, he said.
“We should have beat those guys, 100 per cent. We didn’t play well defensively, we were leaving our end too quickly, and we gave up the puck too much,” he said.
Black suspects the Terriers will work on their neutral zone and defensive zone breakouts this week in practice.
The second-placed Terriers fall to 12-3-1-0 on the season and are chasing the Stayner Siskins for first place in the North Carruthers Division.
“We do keep an eye on the standings because we want to have home-ice advantage in the playoffs. Every game matters,” Black said.
The Terriers next home game is next Saturday, Dec. 4, versus Huntsville. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m.
