By Kenton Wolfe | February 16, 2018

Strong performances from the St. Catharines Falcons power-play and penalty kill edged them over the visiting Thorold Blackhawks Friday night at the Jack Gatecliff Arena by a score of 4-2.

Falcons goaltender Owen Savory lead the way for the Falcons, allowing just two goals on 25 shots against to earn himself his GOJHL-leading 28th win of the season. Blackhawks goalie Eric Dhillon allowed four goals on 32 Falcon attempts.

St. Catharines was forced to play without their leading scorer Lucas Smilsky who missed the game with an undisclosed injury. Despite missing their top special teams player, the Falcons were 3-4 with the extra man and killed 7-9 penalties.

Coming off back-to-back overtime games against the Pelham Panthers and Buffalo Regals, Falcons General Manager and Coach Frank Girhiny knew his team had to make adjustments.

“We switched the power-play up with the breakout,” said Girhiny. “We like that we have all five guys moving now. I think that was a key part in our win.”

Both teams traded chances in the first period. Blackhawks forward Griffen Fox scored his ninth goal of the season on the power-play to give Thorold an early lead.

The new-look Falcons power-play came alive in the second period, scoring three goals in rapid succession. Forward Zach Lawrence tallied his 16th goal of the season, finishing off a passing play from line mate Carson Edwardson to tie the game. Falcons forwards Kyle West and Dakota Miskolczi also buried with the extra man to give the Falcons a two goal lead.

Falcons captain Tyler MacArthur scored early in the third period from the point, stretching the St. Catharines lead to three. St. Catharines then ran into penalty trouble, killing all but one Thorold power-plays. Blackhawks forward Trevor Neumann scored his team’s lone goal in the final frame.

“We made a lot of strides tonight,” said MacArthur. “We’ve been working on some things and I think we were able have a good match, especially in the second and third period tonight.”

Girhiny was especially happy with the changes his team made. With just five games left to play in the season, the Falcons are looking to improve their game

“We talked to the other coaches the other night about the special teams,” said Girhiny. “That’s going to be our key in the playoffs.”

The Falcons are back in action on Sunday when they travel to Welland to take on the Canadians at 7:05pm.