The New Hamburg Firebirds relied on the sparkling performance of Eric Peicheff in net to grab a 5-1 win against the Simcoe Storm.

With the win, New Hamburg evened the series at 1-1 in the best of seven showdown.

The Firebirds' penalty kill excelled, as New Hamburg gave up zero goals despite allowing 17 power plays.

The Firebirds were led by Matt Yantzi, who registered one goal. Yantzi scored 7:21 into the first period to make the score 2-0 New Hamburg. Jaden Goetz provided the assist.

New Hamburg stifled Simcoe's power play, and did not give up a single goal while down a man. The Storm were unable to stop the Firebirds from sending pucks towards the net, and New Hamburg eventually piled up 31 shots on goal.

Others who scored for New Hamburg included Trevor Sweetland, who had two and Kyle Mohr and Sean Hergott, who each put in one. In addition, New Hamburg received assists from Sean Kienapple, Kory Nowak, Kyle McDonald, Brandon Yantzi, Nick Pope, Brock Yantzi, and Coy Kulich, who contributed one a piece.

Simcoe forced the Firebirds goalie Peicheff to work between the pipes, taking 42 shots.

The Storm were led by Braden Roberts, who scored the team's only goal. Roberts scored 1:17 into the second period to make the score 3-1 New Hamburg. Jamie Kelly picked up the assist.

Peicheff recorded 41 saves for New Hamburg. The Firebirds incurred 76 minutes in penalty time with 18 minors. Team's Sam Murray and Goetz were slapped with misconducts and ejected from the game. Simcoe's Alex Gegeny stopped 26 shots out of the 31 that he faced. The Storm incurred 64 minutes in penalty time with 12 minors. For Simcoe, Josh Alward and Brett Lewis were ejected from the contest.