The Chatham Maroons had a three-goal lead after two periods and cruised the rest of the way en route to a 5-1 win over the Strathroy Rockets.

Chatham was led by goalie Bo Bessette, who finished with 32 saves while allowing one goal.

Strathroy's power play was ineffective against the Maroons' penalty kill, which allowed zero goals while shorthanded.

Chatham forced Rockets' netminders to work all game long, ripping 46 shots and forcing 41 saves. Tynan Lauziere made 24 stops and Mat Ouellet made 17. The Maroons excelled on the penalty kill, not giving up a single goal in six chances.

Chatham was helped by Jared Dennis, who registered one goal. Dennis scored 11:48 into the first period to make the score 2-1 Chatham. Steven Beenackers provided the assist. Chatham additionally got points from Trevor Richardson, who also finished with one goal and one assist, Beenackers, who also had one goal and one assist, and Ian Faubert, who also racked up one goal and one assist. Mark Fratarcangelli also scored for Chatham. In addition, Chatham received assists from Carl Stapleton, Brayden Hopkins, and Michael Verboom, who each chipped in one and Connor McKinnon and Levi Tetrault, who contributed two each.

The Rockets stifled the Maroons' power play, and did not give up a single goal while down a man. Strathroy's offense rang up 33 shots on Chatham's net.

The Rockets were led by Matt Knight-Bedour, who scored the team's only goal. Knight-Bedour scored 9:14 into the first period to make the score 1-0 Strathroy. Kieran Milne assisted on the tally.

The Maroons incurred 24 minutes in penalty time with seven minors. Chatham ran into serious disciplinary problems during the contest, and Steven Szekesy was ejected from the game. Strathroy incurred 32 minutes in penalty time with six minors.