Skyhawks blank Eski's(updated)

After consecutive loses in games three and four, in which the North Bay Skyhawks scored only one goal to allow the Abitibi Eskimos to tie up their best of seven quarter final playoff series at two games. The Skyhawks found a way to put the puck in the net and played solid defense, bouncing back with a convincing 2-0 shutout win Tuesday night, in a pivotal game five at Jus Jordan Arena in Iroquois Falls. North Bay was out shot in every period and a 31-18 shot advantage in favor of Abitibi in total, however, Skyhawks head coach Darren Turcotte believes his team gave a strong effort in the win.

“It was good, I thought we played well defensively, blocked shots… did what we had to do to get a win in Abitibi,” Turcotte said after the game by cell phone.

Turcotte also pointed out the strong game the Eskimos played.

“They play smart, defensive hockey, they wait for mistakes by us and tonight we didn’t make many”.

Matt Williams got the Skyhawks on the board early in the first with just 3:12 taken off the clock and Scott Faulkner would add a short-handed marker in the second period, but Williams’ goal was all North Bay would need as it stood for the game winner. Louis D Avino, Josh Diamond and Mike Lawler picked up single helpers on the goals to contribute to the score sheet.

The much needed win moves the momentum back on North Bay’s side after they had relinquished it in their game three and four loses.

“It’s pretty important, it’s 3-2 now, we’re coming back home, but it doesn’t make tomorrow’s game any easier, we still have to play the same way,” Turcotte said of the significance of the game.

The winning outcome was different in game five, favoring the Skyhawks compared to games three and four, but Turcotte thinks there wasn’t much difference in the way the Skyhawks played.

“We buried our chances and they didn’t,” he said. “The last three games there’s been a low amount of shots on net, very few quality scoring chances and tonight we got more than they did,” Turcotte added.

796 people took in the game in Iroquois Falls to watch their Eskimos pepper Skyhawks goaltender Ian Wilson with 31 shots. After struggling in game four when Wilson allowed three goals on 20 shots, Wilson was a wall in the net in game five, stopping all 31 Abitibi pucks fired at him to earn the shut out, in a performance that more than made up for his sub-par play at Memorial Gardens on Sunday.

“Wilson came back strong, played well when tested, controlled the rebounds and we expect the same thing tomorrow night,” Turcotte explained.

The games first star went to Ian Wilson, who is the leagues top playoff goaltender, sporting a sizzling 0.941 save percentage and posting an astounding 1.74 goals against average, both in which lead the league, throughout five playoff games for the Skyhawks.

North Bay’s Kody Carnevale received second star honors, while Abitibi net minder Miles Williams picked up the third star.

Nathan Hewitt didn’t dress for the second straight game due to an upper body injury.

The Skyhawks win gives them a huge 3-2 lead in the best of seven series. They’ll have a chance to close it out tonight at Memorial Gardens with the puck scheduled to drop at 7:30p.m.