The race for the playoffs tightened up even more as the Brooklin Redmen downed the Brampton Excelsiors 14-8 Thursday night in Brampton to move into a tie for second place. Brooklin now has seven points with the same 3-5-1 record as the Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks while Brampton sits a point back at 3-5. The Oakville Rock are in last place at 2-7 but have won their last two games.
Kyle Whitlow had a hat trick and Shawn Williams 2 goals and 3 assists to lead the Redmen, who went up 3-2 after the first period and blew the game open with a 6-0 second frame. Mike Burke had 2 goals and 5 assists and Joe Resetarits a goal and 4 assists for Brampton.
Brampton came to life offensively in the third period, scoring five times. Unfortunately for the Excelsiors, Brooklin responded every time Brampton scored except for Burke's extra attacker goal with 44 seconds to play.
Brooklin had a decided edge in shots on goal, outshooting Brampton 62-48. They chased starter Tyler Carlson with their fifth goal of the second period, although he stopped 34 of the 42 shots he faced for a solid .805 save percentage. Replacement Grant Crawley wasn't able to provide the spark Brampton was hoping for, giving up 6 goals on 20 shots and taking the loss.
