The Hamilton Red Wings tried their best to erase a three-goal deficit, but the North York Rangers would not be denied the victory and hung on to win, 5-3.

North York made the score 5-2 on a goal by Michael Morgan at 13:57 in the third period, and Hamilton got as close as 5-3 when Matt Smith scored 17:25 into the third period.

Matthew Whittaker had two goals and one assist to lead the Rangers. Whittaker scored the first of his two goals on the power play at 9:10 into the second period to make the score 3-1 North York. A hooking penalty on Carl Greco had put North York on the power play. Gabriel Valenzuela provided the assist. Whittaker's next tally on the power play made the score 4-1 North York with 19:30 left in the third period. Ted Hunt picked up the assist.

The Rangers' penalty kill was spotless, allowing no goals on three Hamilton power plays. North York forced the Red Wings goalie Jordan Cartney to work between the pipes, taking 32 shots.

North York also got points from Valenzuela, who also tallied one goal and one assist and Morgan, who also registered two goals and one assist. In addition, North York received assists from Zachary Fung, who had two and Austin Brown, Luke Kutkevicius, and Ryan Takamatsu, who each chipped in one.

Hamilton was helped by Josh LaFrance, who finished with one goal. LaFrance scored 8:35 into the third period to make the score 4-2 North York. Smith provided the assist. Hamilton additionally got points from Smith, who also grabbed one goal and one assist. Rylee St. Onge also scored for Hamilton. More assists for Hamilton came via Erick Delaurentis, Joseph Mitchell, Laine McKay, and Ryan Erickson, who contributed one each.

The Rangers' Evgueni Makarski stopped 25 shots out of the 28 that he faced. North York incurred four minutes in penalty time with two minors. The Rangers ran into serious disciplinary problems during the contest, and Brown was ejected from the game. Cartney recorded 27 saves for the Red Wings. Hamilton incurred 10 minutes in penalty time with five minors.