It took a while for the Panthers to get rolling, as Aurora scored once in the first and again early in the second to take a 2-0 lead. Ryder Dagenais buried one from the slot on a power play midway through the second, and that seemed to spark Pickering. Josh Brady followed with another power-play goal three minutes later, almost from the same spot. Carter Fogarty notched his fifth of the season late in the period to give Pickering a 3-2 lead heading into the second intermission.
Aurora got its own power-play goal at the seven-minute mark of the third to tie it up, but Fogarty took advantage of a loose puck at the side of the crease to knock in the go-ahead goal. Joe Cadorin tallied his team-leading ninth of the season on a nice pass from Charlie Key during a two-on-one break to make it 5-3. Fogarty completed his hat trick with an empty-net goal with a minute remaining, and Aurora added one more 40 seconds later to make it a 6-4 final.
Anthony Sciere was solid in net, making 37 saves to record his third win of the season.
