Predators' Luca Fernandez caps big weekend with a hat trick

Niagara Predators forward Luca Fernandez followed a two-goal performance against North York Saturday with a hat trick Sunday to lead his team to a 5-1 victory over the Toronto Flyers. 

The win capped a bit of a strange weekend for the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League team. It began with the cancellation of Friday night’s scheduled contest against Durham. The Preds were handed two points by the league as the third-place Roadrunners were charged for forfeiting the game.

“It’s not the way you want to get a win,” said coach Kevin Taylor. “It’s still two points for us though, so it benefits us.”

The Preds used the ice-time that night to scrimmage and to prepare to take on the first place Renegades once again in North York. 

And they came out strong Saturday evening. Though North York’s Christopher Rende scored the game’s  opening goal, Fernandez responded with two in a row to give Niagara the lead just 7:44 into the first period. Niagara and North York traded leads for the rest of the first, which ended in a 3-3 tie. 

The Renegades went up 5-3 in the second, but Nick Savoie closed the gap with a late goal and the third period began with the Preds down by only one. 

But the wheels fell off for the Preds the rest of the way, with the Renegades scoring four times in the first 10 minutes of the third period, cruising to a 9-4 win, their fourth of the season against Niagara.

“We outplayed them for two periods,” said Taylor. “In the third period we were terrible. And we didn’t get great goaltending that night. If our goaltending had been there, I think we would have won that game.”

Taylor also said his team needs to get mentally tougher for games against the league’s top teams. 

“We get a goal or two scored against us and it’s tough for them to battle through it,” he lamented. “We’re very fragile in that aspect. I think it’s because we haven’t strung together a lot of wins. They don’t understand that we have to work harder when we get down a goal. There’s not enough confidence from some of the guys on the team.”

Fernandez continued to hold a hot stick Sunday afternoon, notching a hat trick to lead his team to a convincing 5-1 over the Toronto Flyers.

The 6’2”, 181 pound forward got his team on the scoreboard in the waning seconds of the first period when he tipped a shot from the blueline by his teammate Logan Baillie into the net past Toronto goalie Lucas DiRisio. 

In the second period Shane Kaplan tucked in a rebound past DiRisio to put the Preds up 2-0, just two minutes before Fernandez let rip a hot wrist shot from the face-off circle to beat the Flyers’ goaltender on his blocker side. Georgy Kholmovsky then gave the Preds a 4-0 lead when he capitalized on a loose puck near the Toronto crease. 

Fernandez completed his hat trick when he took a pass from teammate Declan Fogarty from behind the net and quickly let go a wrist shot before a hapless DiRisio could get into position. 

“We dominated the game,” said Taylor Sunday. “We went into a bit of a lull in the third period. Mankowski played well tonight (in net), too. We have to get a few more wins together and start moving up more in the standings.”

Fernandez doesn't really have an answer for why he’s had such a strong scoring touch recently.

“The puck’s just been following me around a lot lately,” Fernandez told The Local Monday night. “My teammates have been getting me the puck and I’ve just been able to put it in the back of the net.”

The Oakville, Ontario native said it felt awesome to get his first hat trick in junior hockey. 

“I had some familiar faces in the crowd Sunday,” said Fernandez. “My girlfriend Erin and her family were there watching the game. It was so nice to be able to get three goals in front of them, to put on a show.”

Outside of hockey, Fernandez is working at Pro Hockey Life, a hockey store in Oakville where he can capitalize on his employee discount for some of his equipment. He is enjoying his first season with the Predators and doesn’t mind the drive down from Oakville for practices and games. 

“It’s only 45 minutes,” he said. “I do it because I love hockey. I want to keep playing as long as I can. I want to go to Europe and play professionally. I’m in touch with Jeremy Rottke, who played for Streetsville (now the Toronto Flyers) last year. He’s playing in Switzerland, and he’s been helping me to figure out how I can get over to Europe to play.”

With 13 goals and 24 points, Fernandez is leading the Predators in both statistical categories. 

“I wasn’t expecting to get so many points this season,” he said. “I was just hoping to help my team get some wins. Getting points is an added bonus.”

Behind him in number two in team points is defenseman Gehrig Lindberg, with 20 in only eight games. But the East Aurora, New York native recently left the Predators to play for the expansion Federal Prospects Hockey League’s Blue Ridge Bobcats, a professional team based in Wytheville, Virginia. It’s a big loss of a huge contributor to the team both on the ice and off.

The four points from the weekend have moved the Niagara Predators up a notch to sixth place in the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League’s South Division. 

They will have to win their next game to hold that spot. The seventh place Tottenham Railers, whom the Preds visit this Saturday, are tied with Niagara in points with one additional game played.  

Their next home game at Virgil’s Meridian Credit Union Arena is scheduled for Friday December 8, when they will have another chance to pick up their first win this season against the Renegades.