Storm score three unanswered, earn 4-2 win over Frontenacs
The Guelph Storm found their way back to the win column on Friday night, scoring three unanswered en route to a 4-2 win over the Kingston Frontenacs.
Both netminders were called upon for big performances, with Guelph’s Anthony Popovich turning aside 35 of 37 attempts in the victory for second star recognition, while Brendan Bonello stopped 31 of 34 shots faced.
Offensively, Isaac Ratcliffe stole the show with two goals – including a shorthanded tally as the game winner – and sat at a plus-three rating on the night, earning first star honours. Defenseman Garrett McFadden also tallied three assists paired with a plus-three rating, while Liam Hawel wasn’t too far behind with two helpers in the win.
The Frontenacs had two different goal scorers, with Max Jones earning the game’s third star with seven shots on net.
To start, the Frontenacs’ Jason Robertson grabbed his 25th of the season off an unassisted wrist shot from the face dot 12:40 into the contest. The Storm followed it up 1:10 later, with Cedric Ralph driving hard to the net for his 16th of the year, tying the game up at one.
After chances at both sides featuring impressive goaltending through the middle frame into the third, the Frontenacs took the lead back 5:28 into the final period off of of a flip in from centre that took an odd bounce past Popovich, with the goal going to Jakob Brahaney.
Just over four minutes later, the Storm responded as Ratcliffe made no mistake in tight to register his 20th of the season, tying the game up at two.
Ratcliffe struck again shortly after, potting his second of the game on a shorthanded rush off of a nice feed from McFadden, giving the Storm a 3-2 lead with just over five minutes remaining in the game.
With 15 seconds left on the clock, the Storm solidified the 4-2 win with an empty netter from Dmitri Samorukov.
The Storm look to build on the win on Sunday afternoon, when they finish off the weekend versus the Ottawa 67s for a 2:00pm puck drop.
Guelph Storm 4 at Kingston Frontenacs 2 – Status: Final
Friday, January 12, 2018 – Rogers K-Rock Centre
Guelph 1 0 3 – 4
Kingston 1 0 1 – 2
1st Period-1, Kingston, Robertson 25 12:40. 2, Guelph, Ralph 16 (McFadden), 14:50. Penalties-No Penalties
2nd Period– No Scoring. Penalties-Robertson Kgn (too many men), 5:29.
3rd Period-3, Kingston, Brahaney 4 5:28. 4, Guelph, Ratcliffe 20 (Merkley, Hawel), 9:59. 5, Guelph, Ratcliffe 21 (McFadden, Hawel), 14:22 (SH). 6, Guelph, Samorukov 7 (McFadden), 19:45 (EN). Penalties-Ralph Gue (tripping), 12:41.
Shots on Goal-Guelph 14-9-12-35. Kingston 15-8-14-37.
Power Play Opportunities-Guelph 0 / 1; Kingston 0 / 1.
Goalies-Guelph, Popovich 19-13-1-2 (37 shots-35 saves). Kingston, Bonello 2-2-0-0 (34 shots-31 saves).
A-3,711
Referees-Scott Oakman (23), Josh Schein (27).
Linesmen-Scott Walker (60), Will Dykeman (53).