Oct 22, 2023 | Winterhawks News | 268 views
Weekend Split for Winterhawks
It was a weekend of the one that got away for the Saugeen Shores Winterhawks.
The Winterhawks split a pair of games, picking up a 4-0 victory on the road in Milverton on Saturday evening.
But a 6-5 loss at The Plex on Friday night at the hands of the Erin Outlaws is sure to be one that is looked back on with disappointment.
The expansion Outlaws made their first visit to The Plex on Friday, and pulled off a stunning victory with five unanswered goals in the third period.
James McHaig opened the scoring six minutes into the opening frame, scoring off the rush when Outlaws goalie Jacob Tugnutt stopped McHaig's shot with his glove, but the puck popped up in the air and fell behind the Erin goalie and into the cage.
Erin evened the score on the power play at the 14-minute mark, but the Winterhawks answered right back two minutes later.
Trent Hawke flipped a high pass through the neutral zone to Lauchlin Elder, who fired a wrist shot over Tugnutt's glove to make it a 2-1 Winterhawks lead.
The Winterhawks dominated the 2nd period, scoring three times.
Justin Marlowe scored two in quick succession, first picking up a rebound in front after laying a heavy check on an Erin defender, putting a shot past Tugnutt to make it a 3-1 lead.
Less than four minutes later, Marlowe was at it again, this time on a two-on-one, snapping a shot into the top corner to make it a 4-1 Winterhawks lead.
Mike Fiegehen rounded out the scoring in the second period at 14:15, sliding a wraparound into the Erin net to make it a 5-1 lead that seemed insurmountable as the Winterhawks thoroughly carried the play to that point in the game.
However, it all came crashing down in the third period.
Erin got life right away just 13 seconds into the frame, when Sean Caruso tipped a knuckling point shot past Winterhawks goalie Eric Peicheff to cut the lead to 5-2.
The sluggish start to the third continued two minutes later when the Winterhawks defender was stripped of the puck, leaving two Erin forwards the opportunity to finish a passing play on a helpless Peicheff to narrow the Winterhawks lead to 5-3.
Erin picked up their fifth power play of the game mere minutes later and converted on a shot from the goal line and suddenly, it was a one-goal game.
With the train coming fully off the tracks at this point, Erin tied the game with five minutes left in regulation when an Outlaws forward was left unchecked as Erin entered the Winterhawks zone, and that knotted the game at 5-5.
It seemed perhaps the Winterhawks would have a chance to right the ship late in regulation when Erin was whistled for their first penalty of the game.
However, an errant pass was picked off before the power play unit could really get set up, springing the Outlaws rush the other way and stunning the crowd as Erin took a 6-5 lead with 53-seconds left.
The Winterhawks could not pull out of the tailspin and the game ended 6-5.
Marlowe was named The Wismer House Player of the Game with his two-goal effort.
Full Boxscore
An opportunity to get back in the win column game quick with the early evening match-up in Milverton against the 4 Wheel Drives on Saturday.
Marlowe continued his hot streak, giving the Winterhawks a 1-0 lead at 16:54 of the first period, with assists to Kevin McCallion and Jordan Vanhaelemeesch.
McHaig picked up another goal to make it 2-0 at 12:50 of the second period, with Josh Deyell and Miles MacLean picking up assists.
MacLean notched a power play goal less than three minutes later to give the Winterhawks a 3-0 lead, with Matt Shields and Trevor Smith adding assists.
Hawke rounded out the scoring with his own power play marker from MacLean and Elder in the third period to make it a 4-0 lead.
Clayton Fritsch locked down the Winterhawks net from there, picking up the shutout in his first start of the season.
The win improved the Winterhawks record to 3-1-0 and put them in first place early in the season.
Full Boxscore
There will be plenty more road trips in the near future for the Winterhawks, who play six of their next seven games away from The Plex.
They will be back in action in Seaforth on Saturday night, October 28th, against the Seaforth Centenaires at 7:30 p.m.