The Panthers used their momentum from the last game to their advantage in this one, jumping ahead at 5:47 of the first period on a goal by Joseph Crngarov, assisted by Joe Cadorin and Sam Ethier.
At 5:49 of the second, they went up 2-0 on Trenton as Ryder Dagenais converted a pass from behind the net by Joey Zhang.
With Pickering playing even with Trenton at even strength and Gavin Betts solid in net, the Golden Hawks adjusted their strategy by crashing the net to create chaos. While that didn’t affect Betts’ play, it did lead to a series of penalties on both sides that disrupted the Panthers’ momentum. Trenton capitalized with a power-play goal at 13:32 by Matthews (assisted by Mauro and Artichuk) and followed up with an even-strength goal at 17:36 by Artichuk, assisted by Mauro and Fournier, tying the game at two.
Trenton then scored the go-ahead goal at 7:07 of the third period, as Souliere finished a setup from Roach and O’Neill. Pickering pressed hard for the equalizer and came close with a shot off the crossbar, but Trenton sealed the win with an empty-net goal at 19:44, as Mauro found the back of the net off a feed from Kuipers and Fournier.
Gavin Betts was solid in net, making 32 saves on 35 shots.
The Panthers will try to tie the series again in Game 4 in Pickering this Friday night, March 14th, at 7:30 PM.
