The home teams stayed undefeated in Game 4 of the second-round matchup between the Hamilton Kilty B’s and the Fort Erie Meteors, Fort Erie coming out on top 2-1 in a rough game on Saturday night.
17 minutes into the second period in a tied 1-1 game, Meteors forward Hunter Zoccoli took a pass from Jayden Baldinelli on a two-on-one and cut back to his backhand, getting Kilty B’s goalie Braedyn McIntosh moving the wrong way for the go-ahead goal.
Tyler Decoff also scored for Fort Erie, while Duncan Nichols-Delay made 23 saves to pick up the win.
Justin Monteith was the only Kilty B’s player to find the net as the team continues to struggle to score on the road in the second round, having been shutout in Game 2.
Just 4:51 into the first period, Owen Kelly found Decoff streaking down the right wing with seam pass under the extended stick of Hamilton’s Dylan Abbamont. The forward took a couple of strides towads the net before picking his spot and beating McIntosh glove side to take a 1-0 lead that would last into the second period.
Determined to respond in the second, and aided by five different Fort Erie minor penalties, the Kilty B’s finally broke through on a power play just past the midway point of the game. A point shot produced a juicy rebound in the slot that Abbamont worked over to Monteith, who slammed the puck into the open cage standing in front of him. Hamilton is 4-for-21 (19%) with the extra man in the postseason.
But just a few minutes later Baldinelli jumped on a neutral zone turnover and found Zoccoli for the game-winning goal, his second of the playoffs.
McIntosh was back in the net for Hamilton after ceding the crease to Gage Stewart in Game 3 in the second leg of a back-to-back, making 16 saves in the loss.
