Tonight’s game was meaningful for both teams – the Panthers were looking to add another two points to stay ahead of Lindsay and to gain some ground on Cobourg, while the Raiders were hoping to catch King City for the eighth and final playoff position in the West Conference. Ian Michelone was almost unbeatable in this one as he made 54 saves in helping the Panthers to continue their February four-game win streak. Joe Cadorin got things going for Pickering late in the first when he tallied his thirteenth of the season, assisted by Bowditch and Zhang, and his fourth in the last three games.
Georgetown tied it in the second as they outshot Pickering 25-10. The Panthers came out strong in the third and were finally rewarded as Blake Wright scored what proved to be the game-winner, banging in a Joey Zhang rebound six minutes into the third period, with Wilson also picking up an assist, to give Pickering the 2-1 lead. They held off a desperate effort by Georgetown to tie it up as Michelone turned them aside time and time again for his fifteenth win of the season.
Pickering has only six regular-season games remaining and travels to Wellington Friday night, February 14th, to take on the Dukes at 7:30 pm.
