Sports stats



Majors Knot Series with Clutch Win

March 27, 2012 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Mississauga St. Michael's Majors News Release


It's down to a best-of-three between the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors and the Barrie Colts.

Trevor Carrick scored the game-winning goal with 6:23 remaining in the third period to lift the Majors to a hard fought 3-2 win over the Colts at the Hershey Centre on Tuesday night, tying the best-of-seven series 2-2.

Game five in the series is Saturday night in Barrie and game six will be played Monday, April 2 at 7 p.m. at the Hershey Centre. Tickets are on sale for the first round at www.ticketmaster.ca or at the Hershey Centre box office.

Mika Partanen had a goal and an assist and Riley Brace scored the other goal for the Majors, who also got two assists from Jamie Wise. Brandon Maxwell made 27 saves in goal as the Majors out-shot Barrie 32-29.

Ivan Telegin and Erik Bradford scored for Barrie, while Mathias Niederberger made 29 saves in goal.

The home team has won every game in the series to date, and it was the Majors turn to defend home ice on Tuesday which they did, despite falling behind 2-1 after the first period.

"Once again I really liked our perseverance tonight," Mississauga General Manager/Coach James Boyd said. "We had our bumps and got behind early, but there was a lot of positive talk on the bench and we worked through it.

"We got a lot of key contributions from everyone and I'm very happy we were able to pick up a big win like that in such a key game"

Barrie opened the scoring on a goal by Telegin, his fourth of the series, at 12:51 of the opening period. The Majors responded quickly on the power play on a goal by Partanen at 14:29, but just 14 seconds later Bradford took advantage of a clearing pass by Maxwell to again put Barrie in front after 20 minutes.

Mississauga's power play then went to work again, as Brace connected on the man advantage at 5:43 of the second period to again tie the game. That was it for the second period scoring, setting the stage for a tense third period.

Carrick's bullet drive from the point beat Niederberger cleanly to put the Majors in front for what turned out to be the third period's lone goal. Mississauga did a good job shutting down the Colts in the third, out-shooting Barrie 11-5.

Special teams were the difference in this one, as they were in Barrie's 4-0 win in game three. The Majors went 2-for-4 on the power play while the Colts failed to score in their three chances with the extra man.

"It's key to get the power play going," Boyd said. "I thought we were really close with it a couple of times earlier in the series but it was great to get some results and some finishing touch around the net."

With three days off in the series now due to arena availability issues, both teams will have time to recharge.

"It's been a hectic stretch so it's really good to have a chance to have some time down and regroup and get ready for Saturday," Boyd added.

A seventh game if necessary will be played in Barrie on Tuesday, April 3.

• Discuss this story on the Ontario Hockey League message board...

Ontario Hockey League Stories from March 27, 2012


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Mississauga St. Michael's Majors Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central