WHITBY FURY ARE SOUTH-EAST CHAMPIONS!
The Whitby Fury clinched their first-ever OJHL South-East Conference championship with a 6-4 win over the upstart Toronto Lakeshore Patriots on Thursday night, claiming a four games to one series victory.
Following a controversial finish to game four of the series, special teams were the story in game five with seven of the ten goals scored on the power play or shorthanded. Whitby once again came out flying with Taylor Best opening the scoring with his first of two power play markers just 2:50 into the game. Mike Hennessey notched another ppg midway through the frame to give the East champions a 2-0 lead at the break.
Just eight seconds into the second period, Fury leading scorer Matt Davis would be ejected from the game for a hit-from-behind and the Patriots capitalized on the penalty as James Ryan cut the lead to one. Carrying the momentum from the goal, Dylan Carter would tie the game just over a minute later and we were back to square one. The score didn't last long, however, but this time it was the Fury that struck shorthanded with Jack Lewis banging home the goal and few short minutes later OJHL Rookie-of-the-Year and Top Prospect Devin Shore notched his fifth of the playoffs on the power play to give Whitby a 4-2 lead entering the second intermission.
Undisciplined play would turn out to be the undoing of the Patriots as Shane Cavalieri went off for unsportsmanlike conduct late in the second period and the Fury would make them pay just 17 seconds into the third as Taylor Best scored his second, and Whitby's fourth, power play goal of the game. Not giving up without a fight, Toronto Lakeshore threw everything they had at the Fury net, outshooting Whitby 13-8 in the final frame. Daniel Tedesco, with his league-leading 13th of the playoffs, and Dylan Carter with his second of the game, cut the lead to 5-4 with less than three minutes remaining. But that would be as close as the Pats would come, with Devin Shore netting his second of the game into the empty net to clinch the victory and Conference title.
Devin Shore's four point outing earned him the game's first star with teammates Taylor Best and Kevin Stevens earning second and third star respectively in front of an announced crowd of 453 spectators. The victory clinches the Fury's first trip to the OJHL Championship Series in franchise history with a four games to one series victory. They now await the winner of the North-West Conference Final between the OJHL regular season champion Georgetown Raiders and the Stouffville Spirit, who will play game seven of their series on Saturday night, March 31, at 7:30pm in Georgetown.
