Rookie goalie makes 42 saves for his first league shutout, then Niagara Falls outshoots ninth-ranked Toronto.
Thomas Puhalla stopped all 42 shots he faced Friday as the Niagara Falls Canucks beat the Oakville Blades 1-0 at the Gale Centre.
It was the first Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) shutout for the 20-year-old rookie from Gibsonia, Pa. CJ Irwin scored the only goal on the power play at 13:01 of the first period, from Tim Marcotte and Dominic D’Eletto.
Oakville outshot Niagara Falls 42-23, including 31-13 over the last two periods, but couldn’t solve Puhalla. The Canucks killed the Blades’ only power play.
On Saturday, the Canucks outshot the Toronto Patriots 36-33 in Toronto but fell 3-0. The Patriots have won 10 straight and are ranked ninth in the country in this week’s Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) Top 20 rankings.
After a scoreless first period, Toronto scored three times in the second, on a power-play goal by Ivan Bazunov and two by Lucas Balanyk. Puhalla made 30 saves and stopped 72 of 75 shots on the weekend. James Meredith stopped all 36 shots he faced for the Patriots.
Niagara Falls is 7-14-1-1 and 10th in the West Conference, level at 16 points with eighth-place Mississauga and ninth-place Caledon in the race for the conference’s last playoff spot.
The Canucks host the OJHL-leading Collingwood Blues on Friday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. at the Gale Centre. Collingwood is 20-2-0-0 and ranked No. 2 in the country. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for seniors and students. Children under five get in free.
Niagara Falls then visits Georgetown on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. and King on Sunday at 3 p.m.
’Nucks Notes
The Canucks have added two forwards. Dylan Cooney is an 18-year-old, six-foot-one, 185-pound right winger from Birmingham, Mich., who spent the last three seasons with Pittsburgh Penguins Elite, most recently its 18U AAA team. Carter Voll is a 19-year-old, five-foot-11 centre from Victoria, B.C., who played junior-B last season with the Richmond Sockeyes of the Pacific Junior Hockey League (PJHL). Both played for the Canucks on the weekend … Defenceman Nicolas Glanville missed both games with an upper-body injury and is week-to-week … Justin Flora is second in OJHL rookie scoring with 26 points, one behind Toronto’s Balanyk … Several teams in town for the Niagara Falls Minor Hockey Association’s Peter Mancuso November Challenge this weekend will be at Friday’s game against Collingwood. Puck drop is 7 p.m.
