The Hamilton Kilty B’s eliminated the Welland Jr Canadians 3-1 in Game 5 of the opening round of the GOJHL playoffs, on Thursday night at the Dave Andreychuk Mountain Arena.
In the first period, Hamilton struck first immediately after Welland took an early holding penalty. On the ensuing powerplay, Nathan Phillips slid the puck over the Aaron Chairot at the left point to fire home the opening goal, making it 1-0 B’s.
Things picked up in the second, when Ryan Woodburn scored just minutes into the period to make it 2-0 for Hamilton. Woodburn received a pass into a one-on-one, he turned around the Welland defender and ripped home his first goal of the playoffs.
Later in the period, Connor Haynes had the puck put on a tee for him by Benjamin Hofstetter, right in the slot and he made no mistake, burying the 3-0 goal.
It didn’t stop there, the Kilty B’s poured it on with two more goals within 19 seconds of each other. The first was from Nathan Phillips, his third of the postseason and the second was by Torin Hession to make it 5-0.
Welland would finally respond late on the powerplay after Hamilton was called for several penalties. Liam Legault was the scorer for the Jr Canadians, giving his team a sliver of hope to keep their season alive.
Hamilton would seal the deal in the third period, adding two more goals for a 7-1 final. Nathan Phillips scored again, this time from a very sharp angle to nab his fourth of the playoffs.
Matthew Duarte had a very busy night, heading to the penalty box on three separate occasions. However, Duarte would get the final goal of the game and start the series-closing handshake line.
With this win, the Kilty B’s take the best-of-seven series four games to one and advance to the next round of the playoffs.
Stay tuned to the Hamilton Kilty B’s website and social media accounts for a second-round schedule.
Jarrett Matthews
