Brett Perreault scored twice to help the Fort Frances Midget ‘AA’ Canadians earn a 6-2 victory over the first-place Portage Terriers in Eastman Midget League action Sunday afternoon at the ’52 Canadians Arena.
After the Canadians survived the bruising, penalty-riddled contest to improve their second-half regular-season record to 5-0, Canadians head coach Dave Egan was ecstatic that his team had stared the league’s top dog in the eye—and didn’t blink.
“It was a big win for us,” said Egan, whose team moved within one point of the Terriers (5-1-1) for first place. “They tried to throw the body at us, but we knew we had the speed.
“Their game plan was to bump us, and they did, but we took their checks and gave some back, as well.”
Perreault kick-started the offence at 3:41 of the first period during a four-on-four situation by cutting across the middle of the Terriers’ zone and zipping a 20-footer past goalie Devin Forio.
Danny Leslie brought Portage back 26 seconds later after the Canadians’ Brett Meyers turned the puck over at his own blueline. Leslie scooped up the gift and busted in before firing a shot to the far side of Fort Frances goalie Mark Buist.
The Canadians were hit with seven minor penalties to the Terriers’ three in the first. Emotions came to a head at 13:46, when Kevin Plett of Fort Frances was tagged for holding and Canadians’ captain Tyler Pocock earned an extra two minutes for voicing his displeasure with the call.
That led to a spirited verbal exchange between Egan and referee Lorne Ricard just past the midway point of the session.
Despite his irritation with the officiating, Egan later acknowledged his team’s discipline had to improve.
“We were in the penalty box far too much,” he remarked. “That can come back to haunt you if you’re not careful.”
< *c>Patience
A power-play goal by Daylan Yurkiw at 12:47 on a screen shot from the point put the Terriers up 2-1, but Egan said his team kept their composure in the face of adversity.
“The feeling on the bench at that point was that if we could capitalize on our chances, we would still be okay,” he noted.
Those chances started to materialize more often in the second period, with Brian Vargas making the most of his opportunity by tying the game at 7:36 with what would be the first of five-straight Canadians’ goals.
Elijah Smith then displayed a nose for the net, crashing the Terriers’ crease after a shot by Shaun Egan and lunging to send a backhander past Forio at 17:43 for the goal that would put Fort Frances ahead to stay.
“I won the face-off, gave it to [Egan], and he took the slapper,” recounted Smith. “I saw the rebound and dove to get the goal.
“When we fell behind, we got some good momentum from our coaches, who told us not to take bad penalties,” he added. “I think our forechecking and aggressive play had a lot to do with Portage eventually getting frustrated.”
Zach Halwachs made it 4-2 at 1:34 of the third, cashing in a rebound at the empty side of the net with Forio out of position. That was followed just over two minutes later by Perreault blasting a shot off the face-off past Forio for a three-goal cushion.
Egan topped off the day at 9:30 with a highlight-reel goal that saw him rush the puck in from centre and put a forehand top shelf.
Matthew Porter scored for the Terriers with 49 seconds to play, but it was small consolation for the visitors.
“Now we’ve learned what’s all out there in this league,” Egan said about his team’s debut season on the Eastman Midget League circuit. “We know we can’t go into games with teams like Portage with half an effort.”
The Canadians began the weekend with a 3-0 shutout Saturday over the host Grunthal Red Wings. Pocock, Trevor Lind, and Smith had the goals in that one.
“I think the boys were prepared for the Portage game with what we went through in Grunthal,” said Egan. “It was a very physical game Saturday, but we can play any which way that another team wants.
“We can play a hitting style but we can skate hard, as well.”
The Canadians will spend this weekend on the road with games Saturday against the Mitchell Mohawks, whom they originally were scheduled to face this past Sunday in Mitchell, and Sunday against the Springfield IceHawks.
Fort Frances has another big weekend to look forward to on Jan. 24-25 when they take on the Thunder Bay Hurricanes there in a best-of-three series that will determine the Hockey Northwestern Ontario rep at the Ontario Winter Games in February.
The next home game for the Canadians is slated Jan. 31 when Grunthal comes to town for the teams’ second meeting of the season.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
