The McLean & Dickey Orillia Terriers got a much-needed win on Saturday night, defeating the Huntsville Otters 6-3.
The Terriers got off to a rough start, falling behind 2-0 within the first eight minutes of the first period.
“I think we still felt pretty confident,” says Terriers’ leading goal scorer Josh Brown. “We just calmed ourselves down on the bench and got back to our systems.”
Two minutes later, Brown sniped one past Otters’ goaltender Darian Willis, who faced 25 shots in the first period. Nearly seven minutes after that, Terriers’ forward Devon Edmonds tied the score with a feed from Noah Mountain and captain Dylan Palomaki.
The Terriers came out flying in the second period with a quick tally to take the lead. It was Edmonds again, finding the back of the net for his eighth of the year, again assisted by Mountain and Palomaki.
Nearly ten seconds later, more than 260 fans at Rotary Place rose to their collective feet as Terriers’ defenceman Kaden Washkurak dropped the gloves with Otters' forward Josh Cormier.
“He came up to me and asked if I wanted to go and I said 'Yep',” Washkurak explained. “We just dropped the gloves and went at it.”
Washkurak, who seemingly won the tilt, says he was hoping to give a jolt of energy to his team that had failed to win in their previous seven outings.
“I wanted to get the boys pumped up,” he said. “I was hoping it would impact the scoreboard in a positive way.”
After Brown stretched the Terriers’ lead to two, Edmonds found the back of the net once more to earn himself a hat trick, pushing the home squad's lead to three. It’s the first hat-trick in Edmonds' two-year Jr. C career.
“I think it got the boys fired up,” Edmonds said. “I think it have us some more momentum.”
Edmonds credited his linemates, Mountain and Palomaki, for his offensive success.
“We play really well together,” he said. “We are all big grinders.”
The Otters made the Terriers sweat in the third period. However, goaltender Carver Monroe only allowed one goal in the final frame and was able to stop 33 of 36 shots on the night. At the other end of the ice, the Terriers flooded Willis with 55 shots; he stopped 49.
The Terriers also added to their point total in the third period as Mason Beck scored his seventh of the year, bringing the final score to 6-3.
After a rough start to 2023, suffering countless injuries, and having to play away from their home arena, Brown says this was the win the Terriers needed to turn their season around.
“I think the boys are fired up to be playing in front of more of our fans now,” he said. “We are more motivated now. I think we are going to go on a run where we can give some of the top teams a run for their buck and move up in the standings.”
The Terriers, who improved to 12-10-0-2 with the win, will look to build off their momentum when they return home to Rotary Place to face the Stayner Siskins on Saturday, Jan. 21.
