The Fort Erie Meteors and St. Catharines Rankin Construction Falcons have somehow managed to exceed the hype surrounding their Greater Ontario Hockey League semifinal playoff series.
Meeting for the third time in as many years in the post-season, the long-time rivals are putting on a show for the ages.
The Meteors edged the Falcons 4-3 in overtime Wednesday at the Leisureplex to tie the best-of-seven set 2-2, the third game that has required extra time after the Falcons won both their games in OT.
Danny Adamo netted the winner just 1:01 into overtime when he stuffed the puck past Falcons goaltender Jacob Ceranic in the middle of a huge scrum in the crease.
“(Alex) Masotti shot it, and I think it got blocked, and it came to me, and I was behind the net, and I just hit it towards the back of the goalie, and it must have hit his skate or the back of the leg and went in,” Adamo said outside a raucous Fort Erie dressing room. “I don’t know how it went in. I didn’t even see it go in until I went more behind the net, and I saw it was snuck in the corner of the net. No one saw it.”
That set off a wild celebration as Adamo’s teammates mobbed him on the ice.
“This is exactly why we play,” he said. “This is amazing. I mean, we’re living in the moment.
“We’re going to remember this for the rest of our lives.”
Fort Erie head coach/general manager Nik Passero agreed.
“They’re two teams with just great respect for each other, but also two teams that just want to beat their brains out,” Passero said. “I’m so proud of our group. You know, bend, but don’t break.
“You know, they deserved that, and you know who deserves it the most? The fans. For both teams. They deserve this to go as long as possible.”
Even in defeat, Falcons head coach/president of hockey operations Tyler Bielby could remove himself from the disappointment of the loss for a moment.
“It’s as good as it gets in our league, in my opinion. And Friday will be interesting,” he said. “It’s tough. I guess maybe I wish I could enjoy it a little bit like a fan. But yeah, three games out of four going into overtime. We’ve got two hockey teams playing for their seasons.”
The Meteors raced out to a 2-0 lead after one period before Rylan Masterson scored with less than four minutes left in the second to extend Fort Erie’s lead to 3-0.
The Meteors were then called for a pair of late penalties with 2:25 to play, and the Falcons quickly capitalized, scoring a pair of power-play goals to shave the deficit to 3-2.
It appeared as though the Mets would be able to make that lead stand up, but Jordan Schanbacher scored with 1:29 remaining and Ceranic on the bench for the extra attacker to send the game into OT.
“We told the guys, we’re either winning in regulation or we’re sending this thing to overtime in between the second and third,” Bielby said. “It might take right into the last minute to do that, and it did. We really wanted them to shoot the puck. They kept passing it, and they waited for the right moment. It was a nice shot by Jordan.”
Passero said his message to the team heading into overtime was simple.
“I said one thing. I said, when this puck goes in the net, it’s going to be the loudest arena you’ve ever heard. I said, someone’s going to be the guy, but when that puck goes in, you’re never going to hear anything like that again. And I think that was true,” he said. “We found a way. It would have been pretty deflating to give up that three-goal lead, but to find a way in overtime is important for them.”
Passero thought back three years to a playoff series versus Hamilton and how the group has matured since.
“We’re down 2-1. We give up a goal with 30 seconds left. They tie it. We got scored on 30 seconds in overtime and the series was over. Our group has learned a lot from that and I’m very impressed with how we came out there that overtime.”
