Winterhawks De-Rail 81’s in Shootout

The Saugeen Shores Winterhawks scored twice late in the 3rd period as they defeated the Minto 81’s in the shootout on Saturday night in Palmerston.

Curtis Johnston scored the winner in the shootout as the Winterhawks prevailed, 7-6.

Minto would open the scoring at 10:39, as Adam Kalawec beat Winterhawks starter Eric Peicheff.

The Hawks would even things up with the man-advantage, as Johnston scored a power play goal at 14:38, with assists to Miles MacLean and Josh Hopkin.

Minto would re-take the lead late in the period, as Collin Hartwick made it 2-1 with 31-seconds left.

Riley O’Connell expanded the Minto lead to 3-1 at 1:04 of the 2nd, but the Hawks answered back two minutes later as Mike Rocca scored his first goal as a Winterhawk to make it 3-2, with assists to Andy Fracz and Trent Hawke.

Andy Mitchell knotted things up at 3-3 at 11:31, with assists to James McHaig and Josh Deyell, but Minto once again regained the lead just over a minute later.

The score remained 4-3 heading into the 3rd period, where the Hawks again tied it up on a goal by Fracz at 1:31 of the final frame, with assists to Rocca and Trevor Smith.

Minto gained the lead yet again at 10:46 on a goal by Hartwick, and appeared to have the insurance marker 30-seconds later to make it 5-3.

But the Winterhawks were determined to battle to the very end, MacLean got the game to within one at 14:10 of the 3rd, with assists to Johnston and Blake Underwood.

Fracz would complete the comeback 54-seconds later, scoring the tying goal past Minto netminder Marc Williams, with an assist to Hopkin.

The Winterhawks would have a power play late in regulation, but couldn’t convert the winner.

Four-on-four overtime solved nothing, and the game went to a shootout.

Peicheff turned aside the Minto shooters to pick up his third win of the season, while Johnston netted the winner to give the ‘Hawks a 7-6 win, their first in Palmerston in nearly seven years, dating back to January of 2012.

The Winterhawks will be back in action for one game next weekend, hosting the Shallow Lake Crushers at The Plex on Saturday November 17th, at 7:00 p.m.