Geiger Makes It Rain Stuffed Animals

It was a spirited affair on Saturday night in Stoney Creek during the final ACHL game before the break. Unfortunately, it wasn’t all the Christmas spirit as the Tigers and St. Catharines Saints got a little heated with Stoney Creek coming away with the 8-3 win in front of a near capacity crowd.

In the first, the netminders put on a show as St. Catharines’ Liam Stevenson and the Tigers’ Daniel Svedin put on a clinic, combining for 23 saves without allowing a goal.

It took until 3:11 of the second period when Paul Geiger sent the home fans into a frenzy, sending stuffed animals over the boards for Stoney Creek’s Teddy Bear Toss goal and a 1-0 lead. Reggie Traccitto extended the home squad’s lead ten minutes later with a power play marker. The Saints would get on the board and cut the deficit to one on David Pacan’s eighth of the season with 32 seconds left in the middle stanza.

The teams would combine for eight goals in the third period. Ryan Donovan leveled the score at two for St. Catharines 30 seconds into the final frame.

From there, the Tigers rattled off three consecutive goals, with two of them coming with the man-advantage. Cordell James regained the lead first at 16:50 and then was followed by Traccitto’s second of the game and Dominik Crnogorac, scoring his fifth of the season. Before the half-way mark of the third period, Connor Walters would give the Saints some life as the captain scored his third of the campaign. However, Freddy Teeple, Mike Ruberto and James would all score to snuff out any chance of a comeback by St. Catharines.

Matt Sagrott picked up the win in relief of Svedin who left the game after two period of play, collecting 31 saves. Sagrott would end the game with 14 saves over the final 20 minutes of play. For St. Catharines, Stevenson made 23 saves before leaving the game with an apparent lower body injury with 44 seconds left in the second period. He would allow just two goals on 25 shots. Devon Popp tended the net for the remainder of the game and took the loss, allowing six goals on 15 shots.

With the win by the Tigers, they move into first place at the break with a 9-1-0-1 record, two points ahead of the Wentworth Gryphins (9-3-0-0).

Over 100 stuffed animals and plushies were collected from the Teddy Bear Toss. All those toys will be donated to the Hamilton Paramedics and Social Navigators program.

St. Catharines will be back on the ice on Saturday, January 3^rd when they host the Wentworth Gryphins in the first game back after the holidays. Stoney Creek will next take to the ice on Friday, January 9^th when they head to Dundas to take on the Real McCoys.

Upcoming Games
--- Holiday Break ---

Saturday January 3
Wentworth at St. Catharines – 7:30pm

Friday January 9
Stoney Creek at Dundas – 7:30pm

Saturday January 10
St. Catharines at Stoney Creek – 6:30pm

Thursday January 15
Stoney Creek at Wentworth – 7:30pm

Friday January 16
Wentworth at Dundas – 7:30pm
St. Catharines at Cambridge – 8:00pm

Saturday January 17
Dundas at Stoney Creek – 6:30pm
Cambridge at St. Catharines – 7:30pm

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For more information contact Allan Cup Hockey Commissioner Rick Richardson at 905-328-4727 or email: rickystar911@outlook.com