The Essex 73s, which found themselves down a man often, weathered the Wheatley Sharks' power play opportunities and emerged with a 5-1 victory.

Essex was sparked by Eric Shaw, who grabbed one goal and one assist. Shaw scored 17:35 into the second period to make the score 2-1 Essex. Phil Janikowski picked up the assist.

Referees had their hands full with a major incident at 15:02 into the second period. Four fighting penalties were dished out along with two game misconducts.

The 73s' offense rang up 51 shots on Wheatley's net.

Essex also got points from Janikowski, who also had one goal and one assist. Others who scored for Essex included Nick Mainella, Scott Bromley, and Daniel Slipchuk, who scored one goal each. In addition, Essex received assists from Matthew Rosati and Adam Gaiarin, who each chipped in one and Jordan Ryan, Daniel McIntyre, and Drew Hull, who contributed two each.

The Sharks were held below their usual level of production. Wheatley puts an average of 3.5 pucks into the net per game.

The Sharks were led by Frankie Ciacelli, who scored the team's only goal. Ciacelli scored on the power play 15:29 into the second period to make the score 1-1. Wheatley had gained a power play chance when Dallas Pereira was whistled for fighting. Scott Florence provided the assist.

Essex's Colin Lauzon stopped 19 shots out of the 20 that he faced. The 73s totaled 19 minutes in penalty time with seven minors and one major and went 1-for-4 on the power play. Essex ran into serious disciplinary problems during the contest, and Pereira was ejected from the game. Adam Leboeuf rejected 46 shots on goal for the Sharks. Wheatley totaled 14 minutes in penalty time with two minors and two majors and went 1-for-6 on the power play. Team's Shawn Hope and Peter Mosher were slapped with misconducts and ejected from the game.