The Durham Thundercats hit the road for the first time this season, taking on long-time rivals, the Saugeen Shores Winterhawks. In a fast-paced, back-and-forth matchup, Durham battled hard and came away with a 6–5 victory.

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First Period

Saugeen Shores struck first early in the first period. Mike Fiegehen scoring a power-play goal at 15:58, assisted by Josh Urbshott and Rob White, following a delay-of-game minor to Durham goaltender Marshall Nicholls.

Shortly after, Miles MacLean would find the back of the net, assisted by Justin Marlowe and Justin Donnelly, giving Saugeen Shores a 2–0 lead.

Durham would get on the board late in the first with Captain Kyler Nixon scoring with 1:30 remaining, assisted by Luke Eurig and Jack Weiser, cutting the Winterhawks’ lead to 2–1 after the opening period.

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Second Period

The Thundercats started the second period on the man advantage following a late first-period high-sticking penalty by Chad Jones. Captain Kyler Nixon would waste no time, scoring his second of the night on the power play at 18:32, assisted by Justin Graham, to tie the game 2–2.

But just two minutes later, Mike Fiegehen restored the Winterhawks’ lead, assisted by Donnelly and MacLean.

Durham answered right back, while shorthanded — when Ryan Colquhoun buried a feed from Justin Graham to even the score. Luke Eurig would score next to give the Thundercats their first lead of the night, assisted by Jack Weiser.

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Third Period

The Winterhawks came back early in the third with Miles MacLean scoring a power-play goal at 17:03, assisted by Urbshott and Andy Fracz, capitalizing on a tripping penalty to Durham’s Darcy Scott.

Durham responded 1 minute and 36 seconds later, with Brody LeBlanc netting a power-play goal at 15:27, assisted by Nixon and Graham, after a cross-checking call to Saugeen Shores’ Logan Freiburger.

Saugeen Shores didn’t back down — MacLean completed his hat trick with another power-play goal, assisted by Fracz and Donnelly, following a roughing penalty to Durham’s Trevor Hughson. This left the game tied with just 6 minutes to go.

But with just over four minutes remaining, Kyle Maloney played hero, scoring the game-winner at 4:05, assisted by Austin Becker and Riley O’Connell, to secure the 6–5 victory.

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Game Notes

Both teams made the most of their power-play opportunities. Durham went 2-for-6, adding a shorthanded goal, while Saugeen Shores scored 3-of-7, keeping the game tight until the end. A few avoidable penalties put Durham shorthanded—staying out of the box more consistently will help the team limit scoring opportunities for the opposition.

The LiUNA Hardest Worker of the Game went to Kyle Maloney, whose late third-period goal stood as the game winner and capped a strong two-way effort.

Honourable mention goes to goaltender Marshall Nicholls,  stopping 48 of 53 shots in his first OEHL appearance.

With the victory, the Thundercats improve to 2-0-0 and will look to keep rolling as they return home this Friday at 8:30PM to take on the Lucknow Lancers in their season debut.

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Game Stats

Final Score: Durham 6 – Saugeen Shores 5

Shots on Goal:
Durham Thundercats: 45
Saugeen Shores Winterhawks: 53

Power Plays:
Durham Thundercats: 2/6
Saugeen Shores Winterhawks: 3/7

Short-Handed Goals:
Durham Thundercats: 1
Saugeen Shores Winterhawks: 0

By: Mara Cutting