Carson Hemenway and the Hawks’ blue line held the Panthers to just 17 shots on Tuesday night, but the Hawks were unable to continue their winning streak, falling 2-1.
The Delta Ice Hawks’ win streak came to an end at 12 games on Tuesday night, as they fell 2-1 to the visiting Port Moody Panthers in their first matchup of the season.
While Delta more than doubled Port Moody’s shot total, Adam Goody stood tall, keeping the high-flying Hawks off the scoreboard, stopping 44 of the 45 shots he faced.
Port Moody got off to a fast start in the first, with Ty Balchen and Derek Leroux scoring a goal each less than a minute apart. Leroux’s goal was a power play marker, putting the Panthers up 2-0 five minutes in. That lead stuck through the remainder of the game.
The Hawks’ defence held the Panthers to less than 10 shots through two periods – Jacob Zillich saw just two in the middle frame. The Hawks more than doubled their shot total from the first with 29 shots through two frames, but were unable to get any past Goody through 40 minutes.
Zillich made some big stops in the third to keep his team close, including on a breakaway by Jack Graham, who blocked a Delta shot high in the Port Moody zone and went off alone to try and extend the lead, but the Hawks’ backstop denied him.
Delta’s offence controlled the puck a majority of the time in the third period, and finally were able to break through with two and a half minutes left. Conner Merriman found an open Ryan Bal on the left point. Bal took a shot and it was tipped in front to finally break the shutout, getting one past Goody.
They continued to press on offence, hoping to keep up the momentum and tie the game before the end of the third, but Goody and Panthers took home the close win.
