Thunder begin playoffs with 6-5 win
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Tillsonburg Thunder’s Mitchell Fitzmorris knew exactly where he needed to be deflecting a shot past Strathroy goalie Evan DeBrouwer to give Tillsonburg a 6-5 win Friday night over the Strathroy Jets in Game 1 of their best-of-five WOSHL quarter-final playoff series.
“A high tip, nice shot from (Justin Abraham),” said Fitzmorris. “Lucky to get a stick on it and find the net.”
Tillsonburg took a 3-1 first period lead on goals by Andrew Whalen, Braedyn Aubin and Braden Roberts.
“We had some success in the first with a lot of shots and we kind of got away from that in the second,” said Fitzmorris.
Tillsonburg outshot Strathroy 19-10 in the opening period, but both teams had 13 in the second as Strathroy fired four consecutive goals, including a power play and short-handed, to lead 5-3. Another goal was scored just three seconds after a Thunder power play expired.
“I think we were just kind of shooting ourselves in the foot, a couple bad breaks there on penalties, and unfortunately not capitalizing on our power plays,” said Fitzmorris. “So we found ourselves not in the spot we wanted to be coming into the third, but we were able to pull out the win.
“We know that there’s 60 minutes in the game, so up or down one, up or down two, it’s not over until the end, “Fitzmorris added.
“The penalties, the two short-handed goals, we got out of synch,” said Thunder coach Derek Partlo. “We’re a pretty deep team – if we can roll our lines good things will happen for us. It’s not like we didn’t get good chances on our power plays, just a couple mental breakdowns that cost us.”
Roberts scored his second of the game late in the second period and Kyle Baker’s third-period goal knotted the score at 5-5.
“They wanted it and came out and earned it,” said Partlo.
“The goal was to get pucks on net, pepper him (DeBrouwer) as much as we could, and we probably did a good job of that in the third and then ended up coming out with the win,” said Fitzmorris.
The Thunder finished with 48 shots to Strathroy’s 36.
Tillsonburg had finished the Western Ontario Super Hockey League 24-game regular season 16-8-0 tied in points with first-place Stratford, but struggled down the stretch with five losses.
“We haven’t been healthy for three or four weeks, but we’ve got most of the guys back now – still missing a couple,” said Partlo, noting they travelled to a couple games late in the season with only 11 or 12 skaters. “When we have our full lineup, we’re a good hockey club.”
“I think it’s always tough to keep your momentum throughout the season,” said Fitzmorris. “Guys get hurt, guys become unavailable, etc., so I thought we did a good job of just kind of regrouping when we had to and worked together as a team to get a win tonight. There’s good morale in the room, I think everyone is excited for playoffs.”
Saturday in Strathroy, the Jets won 5-0 in Game 2 to tie the series 1-1.
“They’re a good team and they’ve got a lot of pride in that room, too,” said Partlo on Friday. “We’re not taking anything away from them, they’re not going to hand it us – they’re going to keep working hard.”
Game 3 of the series is Saturday, March 9, 7:30 at the Kinsmen Memorial Arena in Tillsonburg. Game 4 is in Strathroy on March 10 and if necessary Game 5 is back in Tillsonburg on Tuesday, March 12 at 8:30 p.m.
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