Majors Win A Thrilling Edition Of The Battle Of Peel Region

February 25, 2011 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Mississauga St. Michael's Majors News Release


Mississauga, ON - The Mississauga St. Michael's Majors kicked off their weekend three in three with a match up against the Brampton Battalion tonight at the Hershey Centre. Despite trailing late in the third, the Majors battled back late, and came out on top, with a 5-3 victory.

The first period started out slow with both teams appearing content to play a defensive game. The Majors would catch the first break as Alex O'Neil took a goaltender interference penalty at 5:58. The Majors capitalized as the penalty was coming to an end. Stuart Percy took a hard slap shot that deflected off the Brampton defender and found its way to the stick of Chris DeSousa. DeSousa, who has been red hot of late, wasted no time putting the puck in the back of the net to give Mississauga a 1-0 lead. At 11:07, Derek Schoenmakers returned the favour to Brampton as he took an interference penalty, followed by a fighting major. However Brampton didn't have the same success as the Majors successfully killed off the penalty and took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. Shots on goal in the first period were 7-5 in favour of Brampton.

The second period began and each team seemed to have found there legs. The tempo had increased and more chances were being traded back and forth. Then at 8:28, JP Anderson made the first stop on Scott Tanski but Tanski got his own rebound and sent it over to Craig Moore who shot the puck into a yawning cage. The Majors bounced right back though and scored on a shot from Michael D'Orazio from the point that found it's way through a maze of legs and past a screened Matej Machovsky. Then, after a couple big hits from the Majors, Marc Cantin got issued a cross checking penalty which led to a goal at 17:27 when Ian Watters put in a rebound on the powerplay. After two icings by the Majors in the final 20 seconds of the period, the Battalion scored with one second left while the fans in the crowd counted down the seconds. Sam Carrick deflected a shot top shelf to put the Battalion up 3-2 going into the third. Shots on goal in the second were 13-10 in favour of the Majors.

Things didn't look too bright for the Majors for most of the third period as they couldn't seem to solve Brampton's Matej Machovsky. That was until 15:16, when Marc Cantin scored the game tying goal, unassisted, to give the Majors new life. It was all Majors the rest of the way. Just over a minute later, Rob Flick gave the Majors the lead, when his wrist shot from the slot beat Machovsky. DeSousa and Maxim Kitsyn had the assists. Brampton then pulled Machovsky a few minutes later in an attempt to tie things up. However, Captain Casey Cizikas sealed it for the Majors with the empty net goal at 19:15 as the Majors defended home ice with a 5-3 victory. Shots on goal in the third period were 14-4 in favour of the Majors.

JP Anderson went the distance for the Majors making 18 saves on 21 shots for the victory. Machovsky made 27 saves on 31 shots, taking the loss for Brampton. The games three stars were Cantin (3rd), Carrick (2nd) and Flick (1st).

The Majors will hit the road tomorrow as they travel to Belleville to face the Bulls. The Majors and Bulls will then square off again on Sunday at the Hershey Centre in the back end of the home and home. Game time is 2:00 PM and tickets are available at the Hershey Centre box office.

MasterCard Memorial Cup ticket packages are also still available but are going fast. Platinum seats for the tournament are completely sold out. Packages start at just $495 for the entire tournament. Call 905-502-7788 x. 1 or visit ticketmaster.ca to get your package.



Ontario Hockey League Stories from February 25, 2011


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