Game two of the opening Golden Horseshoe Jr. B hockey playoff round was a heartbreaker for the Thorold Blackhawks.
Down 1-0 in the series, they came home to Thorold and outshot opponents Pelham Panthers by a 35-18 margin but that wasn’t enough.
Managing only one goal in the opening frame, Thorold suffered a 2-1 defeat.
Things looked bright early on, as Hawk Patrick McCluskey scored a short-handed goal with assists going to Daniel Rocco and Trevor Neumann.
But Pelham evened the score later in the period when Thomas Young scored, getting assists from Owen Allan and Adam Scholz.
Then, halfway through the second period Devin Sanders scored what turned out to be the game-winner as neither team could net one in the third period. Matt Ruigrok and Dylan Biggar got assists on the Sanders goal.
Brandon McCorriston was solid in the Panthers goal, blocking 35 of 36 shots to get the win and earn a first star nod. Noah Fortuna took his second loss of the series in the Thorold goal, but was good enough to get the second star vote. Rocco was named the game's third star.
There’s still lots of hockey left in the best-of-seven series but the Hawks are now down by two games. Game three will go at 2:30 on Sun. March 3, at the Pelham Meridian Centre. The series returns to Thorold Monday night for game four. The puck drops at 7 p.m. in the Frank Doherty Arena.
