The Pelham Panthers powered past the Welland Jr. Canadians Friday at the Meridian Community Centre for an impressive 6-2 win. The win, which was the first of the season for the now 1-4-1-0 Panthers came on the heels of a busy week for Pelham, which included the acquisition of Goaltender Logan Snyder from the Niagara Falls Canucks of the OJHL. With the loss, the Jr. Canadians drop to 3-3-0-0 on the season.
The Panthers jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead with a tally from Cooper Drennan at 2:02 of the opening frame. Despite an impressive period, the Panthers failed to find the back of the next again, and after running into penalty trouble the Jr. Canadians would tie the contest with a 5 on 3 powerplay marker at 14:53 of the period. Coming into the second, the Panthers would quickly re-establish their dominance. Dylan Leslie would bury the biscuit at 6:47 for his first goal as a Panther shortly before Nicholas Gilby would find the back of the net at 9:56 to make it a 3-1 game. Welland would respond with a tally at 14:49 of the period to cut the lead to one.
Jack Havers opened the scoring for the Panthers in the third with his first career GOJHL goal at 7:51. Leslie would then notch his second of the night to extend the lead to 3 for the Panthers at 12:57 before Gilby would cap off the night for the Pelham with his team leading 4th goal of the season at 14:18.
The Panthers peppered Jr. Canadians netminder Riley Burnett with 54 shots on the night. In net for the Panthers, Snyder would shine in his Pelham debut kicking aside 30 of 32 Welland shots.
The Panthers finish off their homestand with a Sunday afternoon contest against the Eastern Conference’s top team in the Caledonia Corvairs. Fans are again reminded to bring a non-perishable food item for donation in support of Pelham Cares to score $5 tickets to the contest. Puck drop is at 2:45 PM at the Accipiter Arena inside the Meridian Community Centre.
Photo credit: Luke Perrett
