The Whitby Fury came close to giving away a three-goal lead to the Pickering Panthers, but did just enough to escape with a 5-4 victory.

Whitby led by three goals at one point and ended with the victory. The largest advantage in the game came when the Fury's Greg Milner's scored at 5:34 in the second period to put Whitby up 3-0.

The Fury kept Pickering's goalie busy throughout the game, and Spencer Bacon made 29 saves on 34 shots. Penalties took their toll on Whitby, as its penalty kill unit let in four power play goals.

The Fury were helped by Taylor Best, who finished with one goal and one assist. Best scored short handed 19:36 into the third period to make the score 5-4 Whitby. Whitby found itself down a man on Tyler Park's kneeing. Whitby additionally got points from Matt Davis, who also registered one goal and one assist and Steven Deeg, who also grabbed one goal and one assist. Mike Panowyk also scored for Whitby. Other players who recorded assists for Whitby were Jack Lewis, who had two and Henry Thompson and Jonathan OHara, who contributed one a piece.

The Panthers stifled the Fury's power play, and did not give up a single goal while down a man. Pickering found itself short handed often, totaling 26 penalty minutes and allowing eight power plays.

The Panthers were led by Matt Galati, who registered four goals. More assists for Pickering came via Derek Sheppard and Cody Doiron, who each chipped in one and Andrew McCann and Dylan Hutton, who contributed three a piece.

Tyler Feaver recorded 26 saves for Whitby. The Fury incurred 14 minutes in penalty time with seven minors.