Winterhawks dominate undermanned Radars

Defenceman Nick Quaid had a lot of momentum December 23. Hub photo

The Saugeen Shores Winterhawks showed no mercy as they took it to a short-staffed Clinton Radars on Friday night in Port Elgin.

Trent Hawke had three goals and an assist as the Winterhawks won their 12th straight game, 6-1 over the defending champion Radars.

Clinton only dressed eight regulars and four fill-in players, but opened the scoring 1:03 into the game on the powerplay when Tyler Bryson blasted a point shot past Jeff Flagler.

The Winterhawks answered back 52 seconds later when Hawke netted his first of the night, getting in alone on Radars goaltender Layne Lavis and going top shelf to tie the game at 1-1. Theo Peckham picked up an assist on the equalizer.

Hawke again broke in on Lavis at 14:32, beating the Clinton netminder up high to give the Winterhawks a 2-1 lead, with Bryan Kazarian and Jacob Brown assisting.

Lavis held off a relentless Winterhawks attack for the remainder of the period and good chunk of the 2nd period before the floodgates started to open.

Brent MacDermid curled toward the net at 15:27 of the 2nd, and while Lavis made the initial save, a charging Jeff MacDermid banged the puck into the net as the younger brother made it 3-1 Winterhawks.

Kazarian made it 4-1 just 43 seconds later when he held on to the puck on a 2-on-1 and snapped the puck past Lavis, with Curtis Johnston assisting.

Hawke would complete the hat-trick early in the 3rd period with a shorthanded marker when he stripped the Clinton defender of the puck and again beat Lavis on a breakaway to make it 5-1 Winterhawks.

Johnston finished off the scoring on a nifty passing play with Hawke and Peckham to make it a 6-1 final for the Winterhawks.

Flagler was not particularly tested in the Winterhawks net, though he did turn aside several point-blank chances for the Radars, including a breakaway by Radars veteran Luke Vick.

The Winterhawks dominated the shot clock by a margin of 47-17, while Flagler improved his league-best goals-against average to 1.57 as he picked up the win.

Hawke was named The Wismer House player of the game for his four-point effort.

The Winterhawks improve to 12-1-0 on the season and are alone in 1st place in the WOAA Sr. Hockey League.

They will be back in action on Friday night, December 30, when the Shelburne Muskies visit for an 8:30 p.m. start at The Plex.

Full boxscore via Pointstreak.

NOTE: The Winterhawks have rescheduled two games that were postponed due to last week's wild winter weather.

They will travel to Palmerston on January 13 to tangle with the Mapleton-Minto 81's for an 8:30 p.m. start, and will host the Durham Thundercats on January 27, also at 8:30 p.m. at The Plex.

Winterhawk Goalie Jeff Flager blocked Clinton Radar Luke Vick’s shot during the game December 23. Hub photo