CALEDONIA – The Caledonia powerplay made the difference in Saturday night’s 4-1 win over Niagara Falls at the Haldimand Centre. All four Corvair goals were scored with a Niagara Falls Flyer in the penalty box to keep Caledonia’s perfect 8-0-0 record intact.
Kyler Nixon accounted for the only goal of the first period, scored at 3:58 from Connor Murphy and Spencer Gourlay, with Tory McLean in the box for slashing.
There were a total of 24 shots in the second period, but neither Hunter Johnson in the Flyers net nor Colin Furlong for the Corvairs could be beaten, despite good chances at both ends of the ice.
The Flyers were grounded in the third by three power play goals. Cosimo Fontana struck at 8:20 from Murphy and Matt Quilty, and five minutes later, Gourlay made it 3-0, assisted by Murphy.
The Corvairs were having so much success on the power play, that they got a little reckless at 18:41, allowing Niagara Falls a shorthanded goal at 18:41, scored by Matthew Mannella.
Late in the game, the Flyers took two minor penalties, one for Cross Checking and the other for Abuse of Officials, offering up yet another power play opportunity for Caledonia, which Ryan Moran took full advantage of at 18:53, from Mitch Brown and Brier Jonathan.
With the 4-1 loss, the Flyers have slipped to seventh place in the nine-team Golden Horseshoe Conference, with a 3-3-0 record.
Friday night at the Vale Centre, the Port Colborne Pirates’ goaltender, Mitchell Knight enjoyed the game of his life turning aside 44 of 45 Caledonia shots in the Corvairs’ 1-0 win.
The shots were 28-17 after two scoreless periods, and the game almost went to a 0-0 OT session when Spencer Gourlay finally beat Mitchell at the 19 minute mark of the third period. Justin Abram and Connor Murphy supplied the assists.
This coming Friday night, the Corvairs take their clean slate into St. Catharines to face the 7-1-0 second place Falcons. Then, on Saturday night, the Welland Canadians are the guests at the Haldimand Centre. Game time is 7:30 pm.
The Canadians are a better team than their 8 points in 7 games might appear. They carry two OT losses which would tie them with Thorold for third place had they been able to pull these games out of the fire.
Connor Murphy leads the Caledonia offence so far in the 2013-2014 Jr. B schedule with 8 goals and 11 assists in 8 games played.
Featured image: The Six Nations owned Caledonia Corvairs are still riding the crest of a great start to their 2013-2014 Jr. B hockey season after shooting down the Niagara Falls Flyers 4-1 Saturday night in Caledonia, and a 1-0 win in Port Colborne, Friday night. Connor Murphy leads the powerful Corvairs offense with 8 goals and 11 assists in 8 games played so far. (Photo by Jim Windle)
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