Predators explode in third period to seal a win

It took a wake-up call from coach Kevin Taylor before the Niagara Predators exploded for four unanswered third period goals to knock off the Toronto Flyers 7-4 in Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League action Friday night. 

Despite strong goaltending from Toronto’s Tucker Clyne, the Preds cruised to a 3-0 lead early in the second period. But the Flyers clawed back with one in the second and two more in the third to tie it up with 11:18 to go. 

Those two Flyers’ goals in the final period came during a stretch of lacklustre play by the Predators, with turnovers and sluggish skating in the neutral zone leading to opportunities that Toronto was easily able to capitalize on. 

With the score knotted at three apiece, Taylor called his players to the bench for a time-out. 

“I was upset,” Taylor said after the game. “I told them you can’t allow a team like this (Toronto was 0-5 prior to Friday) to score three goals on you. I was upset with the way they played. My four best guys were on the ice and they walked around them.”

Though he didn’t share with The Local exactly what he said during the time-out, whatever it was lit a fire under his team’s skates. 

Reese Bisci got things rolling with a power play goal, his first of two in the second half of the third period, and defencemen Logan Baillie and Dylan Denning added singles to put the exclamation mark on the Preds 7-4 statement in front of a home crowd in Virgil. 

Baillie also scored in the second period, while Isaac Locker had a pair earlier in the game to round out the scoring for the Preds. 

Niagara outshot Toronto 79-35, a lopsided result that shows just how hard Clyne worked in the Flyers’ net. Thirty of those shots came in the third period.

“He played a great game,” Taylor admitted. “He faced a lot of shots, but I think the seas parted for him every time he faced a shot. He saw the puck all night. We need to get some traffic in front of the net.”

In the home team’s net, Western New York native Mike Mankowski got his first start for his new squad since being taken by the Predators in the ninth round of this year’s entry draft.

“There were a few turnovers tonight,” Mankowski admitted about his team’s play early in the third. “We’ve been playing better teams, so I think tonight we played down to their level a bit. Once they came back, though, we brought it back up. The guys responded well after they (Toronto) tied it up.” 

The well-traveled Mankowski comes to the Preds after stints with the Vancouver Sharks of the British Columbia Premier Hockey League and the Florida Junior Blades of the United States Premier Hockey League last year. 

With first-round draft pick Denning also hailing from the Western New York area, the two have gotten to know each other well the last month or so. 

“We carpool together,” said the 17-year-old goaltender. “And we come over so often for both practices and games that we’re starting to get to know the guys at the border, too.”

Off the ice, Mankowski is taking some online classes and also holding down a job at the UnderArmour outlet store in Niagara Falls, New York. 

The Flyers, by the way, played Friday’s game in plain white jerseys, no logos on their fronts. New owners Paul Di Risio and Melissa Hull were still awaiting delivery of their new uniforms for the team that was previously branded as the Streetsville Flyers. 

In contrast to the Flyers, who are now 0-8 following  a three-game weekend, the Preds have played only three games this season, losing their opening match to Tottenham and beating St. George for their first win on September 22. 

Their next game, this Friday against a much stronger Durham Roadrunners squad, will be a litmus test for coach Taylor’s young team. He admits that he needs to see more intensity in their on-ice sessions this week to effectively prepare for a much tougher team. 

“Last Wednesday in practice I spent so much time trying to get their attention that I felt like I was a substitute teacher in school,” Taylor said. “And I watched the (pre-game) warm-up tonight and I saw the same lack of discipline. Maybe it’s because of the week-long breaks between games so far. It’s tough.”

And they’ll hit the road for their first away game Saturday night, when they lace up at Colborne, Ontario’s Keeler Centre to take on the 1-2 Northumberland Stars. 

Game time Friday at Virgil’s Meridian Credit Union Arena is 7:30 p.m.