The Fort Erie Meteors finally figured out the Pelham Panthers.
The Meteors defeated the Panthers 9-3 Sunday afternoon after four straight losses versus Pelham, including a 5-2 loss at the Leisureplex Saturday which snapped their 15-game winning streak at home.
“Obviously they’ve been a thorn in our side all year,” Meteors head coach/general manager Nik Passero said. “We haven’t been able to figure them out. I thought we were good last night. We spotted them a three-goal lead and they’re a good team so they’re not gonna let you come back from that. I thought we pushed hard last night and tonight we just got off to a good start and our power play won us the game.”
The Meteors scored three times with the man advantage Sunday, all from Tate Donald, who netted his second hat-trick in two weeks.
“I think that’s a big thing for us,” Passero said. “The power play’s been a little bit slow lately and the PK’s been running at 100 per cent almost. The power play had to spot us one today and they gave us three so it’s a good night for us.”
Donald, who also had a hat trick Feb. 22 versus Welland and now has 18 goals this season, has turned up his game a notch in the second half.
“He’s very dynamic offensively,” Passero said. “Has a crazy shot for a little guy and that’s a second hat trick in two weeks. He’s finding the net and a big part of his game for us right now is the power play.
“It hasn’t been easy for him but he’s been figuring out ways to contribute.”
Donald, an 18-year-old Fort Erie native, is enjoying seeing the puck go in.
“Oh yeah, it feels great,” he said. “At the start of the season it wasn’t going in for me, but now it seems to be falling, so it’s nice.”
Donald has eight goals with the man advantage, one behind team leader Sam Tonelli.
“Just have patience, look for open shots, and not turn pucks over, really,” he said when asked about the power play.”
The Meteors have two games remaining in the regular season, Thursday in Hamilton and Saturday at home to Welland, and will finish in third place.
“We’ve got to find some chemistry, stay healthy, enjoy ourselves here, work hard,” Passero said. “We’ve been to rink every day, so we get a day off tomorrow for the first time in a while. We’ll have dinner Tuesday and approach this week like any other and get to work.”
Across the rink, Pelham head coach/assistant general manager Zac Rinaldo said he could see the loss coming, despite the win Saturday.
“The difference was we had too many guys carry their negative emotions . . . we had so many guys that were negative during that Fort Erie game, and they brought that negative energy into today’s game, and that was a result of just being weak-minded and negative body language and carrying it over from that Fort Erie game,” he said.
Rinaldo said the negativity sprung from expected ice time for some of his players.
“We have guys in here that love the game and that love playing and want to be a part of the team all the time. We’re seeing players that are used to playing high minutes in key situations having their ice time limited because we are now evolving into a very highly competitive playoff team and those players are used to collecting points against other teams. When you play against top teams, it’s not like playing against the other teams, so those guys that are used to playing those top minutes against other teams, the minutes didn’t show against Fort, and they carried that whole negative emotion into the dressing room today. And the energy was off in here, it was quiet, it was really off today.”
The Panthers need one point in their final home game next Sunday versus Ayr to clinch fourth spot, or a loss by Port in one of their final three games.
Rinaldo said it’s imperative the Panthers get back to work and prepare for the post-season.
“It’s just identifying roles and having them understand where they are. It’s hard to juggle. It’s hard to balance as a coach and I have to tread lightly because it is especially a very delicate time of the year. Maybe it’s just a time in their lives, maybe last a couple of days, maybe last a week where, you know, maybe they really wanted to be contributing into that Fort Erie win minute wise, and they felt like they weren’t.
“So maybe it’s just a little hiccup with their emotions and wearing their heart on their sleeves because they’re very passionate. We’ll probably have some meetings and see where their heads are at. Just reel them in and tell them, you know, it’s not personal at the end of the day.”
Tyler Lee, Robbie Dragusica, Owen Hunks, Matthew Sarbando, Ryan Wercholaz scored in the win Saturday.
Dylan Greenwald had both Fort Erie goals.
