Feb 07, 2025 | Winterhawks News | 491 views
Quick Striking Hawks Take Game 1
The Saugeen Shores Winterhawks have drawn first blood in their first round playoff match-up with the Tavistock Royals.
And drawing blood might be the best way to describe this series, as it was an all-out war from the puck drop as the two teams waged physical warfare throughout the night.
The playoff opener was sponsored by Vanderwerf's Your Independent Grocer, who provided Winterhawks thundersticks for fans entering the game, and it sparked the Winterhawks, who came flying out of the gate.
Josh Urbshott opened the scoring just 3:09 into the game with a shot from the point, assisted by Justin Donnelly and Cam Lightfoot.
The first of many penalties followed, putting the Winterhawks on the power play, and it took only five seconds for Medric Mercier to notch a power play goal, feeding another point shot through a crowd to make it 2-0 Winterhawks, assisted by Donnelly and Josh Deyell.
The scoring flurry continued just over a minute later when Curtis Johnston hammered home a shot from the slot from Mike Fiegehen and Kent Ribey to make it 3-0 Winterhawks.
Brent MacDermid tied an awfully nice bow on the opening scoring, taking a lead feed from Andy Fracz. MacDermid proceeded to deke out the Tavistock defender one-on-one, then tied Royals goalie Graeme Noye in knots, putting a backhander into the top of the net.
MacDermid's goal capped off a four-goal run in just three minutes, 15 seconds to give the Winterhawks a 4-0 lead.
Tavistock regrouped from there, calling a timeout and switching goalies, bringing Zach Shomphe in for Noye.
The Royals answered back with a far more spirited effort, showing they weren't going to go down without a fight.
The physical play ratcheted up as the opening period wore on, capped off with an ejection on the Tavistock side for checking from behind that injured a Winterhawks player.
The second period saw a parade to the penalty box, with no fewer than nine minor penalties called. Tavistock used two of their four power play opportunities to cut the Winterhawks lead to 4-2.
The third period saw much of the same, no shortage of physical play, and as a result, no shortage of penalties.
The Royals were again called for checking from behind, although this time the Winterhawks player escaped injury.
Andy Mitchell put the game away on the ensuing power play when Miles MacLean attempted a wraparound on Shomphe. The attempt was thwarted, but the puck came in front to Mitchell, who got enough on a shot to pop it over the Royals goalie to make it 5-2 Winterhawks.
More rough stuff followed as the clock ticked down, setting up what is sure to be more warfare throughout the rest of the series.
Tavistock couldn't score on two more power plays late in the period, as Clayton Fritsch shut the door the rest of the way for the Winterhawks, making 28 saves for the win in the Winterhawks net, for the 5-2 final score.
The Winterhawks lead the best-of-seven series 1-0, and will travel to Tavistock for a Voyago Road Trip today [Saturday] for Game 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Winterhawks fans who can't make the trip can watch the game at our watch party at the Three Sheets Tap Room on Highway 21 at the north end of Port Elgin.
Three Sheets will be showing all Winterhawks road games in this series on their new big screen.
50-50 Draw Information
Winning Ticket #: [Yellow] 61277-946
Winner: Jesse Bedard
Amount: $633
Charity: Saugeen Memorial Hospital Foundation