BRANTFORD, ONTARIO – It was another Saturday afternoon contest for the Brantford Titans this weekend and they welcomed the Pelham Panthers to town for this first time this season. The Titans were in search of their third straight win while the Panthers were looking to win their second straight game. James Gall was back between the pipes for the Titans after getting the night off on Thursday, while the Panthers countered with Logan Snyder.
Early in the first period, Alexander Karmanov would get called for roughing, putting Pelham on an early power play. Karmanov just tried to rub his man out of the play but because he is 7’0 tall, it gets called by the officials. Panthers would quickly convert on the ensuing power play as Owen Hunks would chip it over the shoulder of Gall to make it 1-0. Titans would respond though. Just three minutes later, Chase Bailey-Reed tips a Jackson Cunningham-Louks shot past Edgcumbe to tie the game at 1. Ryan Chamberlain collected the secondary assist. Just past the middle part of the first period, Caleb MacLeish would race up the left side of the ice to try and get to a loose puck. From the left corner, he would put it through a defender and right on to the tape of Hunks and he would tap in his second of the game to make it 2-1. Pelham would get a power play at 13:33 but it would be the effort of Matteo Gauthier that would stand out from that man advantage. The puck would squirt out to the neutral zone and Gauthier would knock the puck down out of mid air as the Panthers tried to send it cross ice. Gauthier would use his speed and streak in all alone on Edgcumbe and beat the Panthers goaltender for his eight of the season to tie the game at two. The two teams would enter the intermission even with the Titans outshooting the Panthers 20-11.
In the second period, it would be all Titans to begin the middle frame as they fired everything but the kitchen sink at Liam Edgcumbe but they couldn’t find a way to get one past him. Until the 6:21 mark of the period. Kaden Wicklander received a pass from Matteo Gauthier who was below the goal line and Wicklander would squeak it past Edgcumbe to give the Titans their first lead of the afternoon. Just past the midway mark of regulation, the Panthers would tie the game as they got Gall scrambling out his net and Francesco Sanita would bury his third of the season. Titans would quickly answer as Ethan Arrojado would tuck the puck past Edgcumbe who was way out of position. Arrojado scores his second in as many games to put the Titans back on top by 1. Brantford would carry the 4-3 lead into the second intermission.
There would not be a ton of scoring in the final frame. Neither team really tried to push the pace too much as they were very cautious about allowing chances in their own end. The score would remain 4-3 heading into the dying minutes and with about a minute and a half to go, the Panthers would pull Edgcumbe to get the extra attacker on the ice to try and tie the game. The Panthers however, were unable to really get any sustained pressure in the offensive zone and with a loose puck up for grabs in the neutral zone, Quinton Kim-Lemay would get just enough of the puck at his own blue line to roll it down into Panther territory and into the empty cage. That would seal the victory and the Titans would walk away with their third straight win. Brantford takes the season series opener with Pelham by a score of 5-3. The Titans would outshoot the Panthers in this game by a 43-29 mark.
The Titans are back in action on Thursday in Hamilton against the Kilty B’s.
