By Jim Stewart

The Caledon Admirals rebounded from a 5-1 home ice loss to Milton on Thursday night by thumping the Canucks 6-2 in Niagara Falls on Friday.

It was the Admirals' first win in two seasons over the Canucks. Niagara Falls won all four of their games against Caledon last season en route to an eighth-place finish and a playoff berth in the OJHL West Division.

On Friday night, three unanswered goals paced the visitors to a commanding 3-0 lead after twenty minutes of play.

Before the game was ninety seconds old, Jack Fang converted Xavvier Rowe's pass past Canucks' goaltender Dylan Bourque at 1:28 to give the Admirals a quick 1-0 lead. 

Eight seconds later, Cole Kirton's first goal of the season stunned the 200 spectators into silence at the Gale Centre as the home side fell behind 2-0. 

Nolan Keeler's seventh of the season—from Braeden Van Gelder and Clarence Allain—gave Caledon a comfortable three-goal lead heading into intermission and chased Bourque from the Canucks' cage.

Caledon Head Coach Joe Washkurak described the importance of the team's quick start on Friday night in Niagara Falls after consecutive losses to Milton and Burlington.

“It was a great start. I challenged the guys and we challenged each other to be better. We have to beat playoff teams like Niagara Falls to make the playoffs this year. It was a big bounce-back win, although we didn't play that bad against Milton. We gave up three power play goals [against the Menace] and only one at even strength. It was much better than our effort in Burlington—I thought we played our worst game of the season [against the Cougars].”

Coach Washkurak didn't like his team's start in the second period – “the second wasn't great”—and Ronan Campbell's goal at 11:21 pulled the Canucks to within two. However, Coach Washkurak's crew arose from its middle frame slumber and played “a strong third period with three goals and a much better effort.”

A pair of timely goals by Clarence Allain at 9:31 on the power play and Cam Lang's shortie at 13:33 extended the Admirals' lead to 5-1.

Although Campbell notched his second goal of the game fifteen minutes into the final frame, Owen Meli's marker with forty-five seconds left provided the margin of victory for the ninth-place Admirals (7-6-1-2).

Allain picked up his second assist on Friday night on Meli's goal to complete a three-point night and pace the Admirals' offense against tenth-place Niagara.

Coach Washkurak complimented Allain on his offensive contributions and improved play of late.

“Clarence has been challenged to play better—he's been struggling away from the puck. We had an animated conversation after practice last week and told him we expected more. He's worked his tail off the last two games—he got an assist on our goal against Milton and he was rewarded for his hard work in Niagara Falls. Those were the best two games he's played and I'm happy for him.” 

He also praised the work of Keeler and Van Gelder on what turned out to be the game-winning goal in the first period versus Niagara Falls.

“Van Gelder fired the puck off the glass right on to Keeler's stick. Keeler's a left shot and he got the puck on his forehand coming in off the right side, and fired it over the goalie's glove. It was a goal-scorer's goal. We're so happy to have him here.”

Keeler, a prized acquisition from the Georgetown Raiders during the off-season, earned his team-leading fourteenth assist on Allain's third period power play marker.

Calem Yorke turned in an exceptional performance between the pipes—stopping 48 of 50 shots—to earn the W and move the Admirals three points ahead of the Canucks in the OJHL standings.

Coach Washkurak is running out of superlatives to describe his goalkeeper who has bailed out the Admirals' boat a number of times this season with his acrobatic play.

“Cal made some really good saves, especially from the perimeter. We limited their good scoring chances, but Cal really played well when we needed him on Friday night.” 

The Admirals host the Aurora Tigers at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 30 at the Mayfield Recreation Centre.

Coach Washkurak discussed the importance of a home ice win versus the tenth-place Tigers (5-10-0-0).

“Aurora's vastly-improved from last year, but they're a team we should beat. We're playing better of late so it should be a good game on Thursday night.”