St. Marys Lincolns may have watched their second-place aspirations vanish last Friday night at the Pyramid Recreation Centre.
Strathroy Rockets were the better team in all areas, skating to a well-deserved 7-2 victory over the Lincs in front of just over 400 fans.
Going into Friday’s showdown, only two points separated four teams in the tight Western Conference standings. Lincolns sat alone in second spot, one point ahead of the Rockets and two up on Chatham Maroons and LaSalle Vipers. A win would have moved St. Marys three points ahead of Strathroy, which has a game in hand.
But Lincs simply didn’t compete hard enough Friday night, especially over the first 30 minutes, and Rockets won more battles all over the ice. The disappointing loss also ended a 14-game Lincolns’ winning streak on home ice—dating all the way back to Oct. 30.
“We had a couple of phases where we didn’t look bad, but for the most part it was sporadic and we didn’t apply much sustained pressure,” Lincs’ coach Merlin Malinowski admitted.
“We got in that early 2-0 hole and our bench just kind of sagged. It obviously lit a fire under Strathroy, and we just never recovered. I’m not happy with our starts in the past few games; I think we take too long to really get going.
“I think everybody was ready to go. Everybody knew it was a big, big game tonight,” he added.
Lincs three points behind Rockets
Following weekend action, Lincolns (28-13-4) find themselves in fourth place—three points behind second-place Strathroy (31-12-1), two behind third-place Chatham (30-13-2), and just two ahead of LaSalle (27-15-4). Lincs have one game in hand on the Vipers.
The climb to second place has now become much steeper for the Lincolns. They would likely have to go 5-0 in their final five regular-season games for any realistic chance.
GM Dan Gibson says Rockets want second place, and they haven’t ruled out top spot, either. They’ve won 11 of their last 12 games.
“If we win the games we need to win, and the games we have in hand, we could possibly end up in first place or at least second place,” Gibson said last Friday. “It’s a goal that we’ve been shooting for all year.
“We have three games in hand on London (Nationals), and we’re 10 points behind them and we play them once more. And we’d have to look for some help from other teams as well.”
After the weekend, Strathroy is eight points behind the first-place Nats, with two games in hand.
Kim’s first goal lifts Lincs over Flyers
Thursday night in Leamington, Jimin (Jimmy) Kim’s first goal with the Lincolns lifted St. Marys to a 2-1 victory over the eighth-place Flyers in front of about 250 fans.
It was Lincs’ third straight victory in Leamington, and Flyers’ 15th loss in their last 16 games.
Merlin Malinowski said Leamington goalie Ryan Malinowski (no relation to the St. Marys head coach) was the only reason the score was as close as it was. The Flyers’ netminder was selected third star, but should have been first star, he said.
“The best player on the ice was their goalie, by far,” coach Malinowski reported. “He made some point-blank stops, made some sensational saves. He just made you shake your head.
“It was scary because we couldn’t get pucks past him and build any kind of a lead. He made it a one-shot game. He was the best player on both teams.”
Upcoming games: Lincolns start a tough final stretch with a home game against Sarnia Legionnaires this Friday at 7:45 p.m. On Sunday, Lincs are in Chatham to play the Maroons at 7 p.m.
Next Wednesday, Feb. 17, St. Marys travels to the Western Fair Sports Centre to play the first-place Nationals at 7:30 p.m.

ROCKETS 7 - LINCOLNS 2
(Friday, Feb. 5 in St. Marys)
The game: Lincolns dug themselves an early hole, falling behind 2-0 before the game was four minutes old.
After Rockets extended their lead to 4-0 at 6:50 of the second period, Lincs replaced starting goalie Stephen Heming with Marc Nother.
The last 10 minutes of the period were Lincolns’ best of the night. They scored back-to-back goals to cut the Strathroy lead to 5-2. But Rockets answered with a powerplay goal before the end of the period, and tacked on another insurance goal in the third.
“It was an extremely important game, and we sent a message to our kids that it was in their hands,” Strathroy GM Dan Gibson said.
“We played an excellent hockey game for all three periods, and in all three zones of the ice.”
Period scores: Rockets led 2-0 after the first period; 6-2 after 40 minutes.
Goal scorers: First star Chris Bodo had two goals (his 40th and 41st), plus four assists for a six-point night for Strathroy. Walter Easter also scored twice, while the singles went to Alex Avery, Tyler Bryden and defenceman Jared Anger.
Josh McDonald and Kyle Provily (his 17th on a powerplay) scored for St. Marys, which suffered its first loss on home ice in the New Year.
Powerplay clicks: Rockets scored three times with the man advantage. They have the most powerplay goals (80) in the entire GOJHL.
Penalty picture: Lincs took 20 of the 34 penalty minutes.
Shots on net: Strathroy out-shot St. Marys in every period, and 48-35 overall.
Season series: Rockets have now won twice at the PRC this season, and lead the season series 3-2. The teams’ final regular-season meeting is Saturday, Feb. 20 in Strathroy.

LINCOLNS 2 - FLYERS 1
(Thursday, Feb. 4 in Leamington)
The game: Lincolns’ Sean Consitt opened the scoring in the first period, and Jimin Kim made it 2-0 at 14:02 of the middle frame.
Jonathon Woelk scored for the Flyers just under two minutes later, but it would prove to be the game’s final goal.
“I’ll take the win because we were definitely short a lot of bodies and their goalie was on fire,” coach Malinowski said.
Period scores: Lincs led 1-0 after the first period; 2-1 after 40 minutes.
Goal scorers: Sean Consitt (his 12th) and Jimin Kim scored for St. Marys. Jonathon Woelk replied for Leamington (7-34-5).
Affiliate help: Lincolns called up defenceman Derek MacDonald (Exeter Hawks) and forward Calvin Penney (Cement ‘BB’ Midgets) for the game.
Penalty picture: In a tame affair, both teams took 12 minutes in minor penalties. Each side also went 0-for-4 on the powerplay.
Shots on net: Overall, Lincs out-shot Flyers 35-27, including 15-8 in the first period. Second star Stephen Heming made 26 saves for his 12th win.
Season series: Lincolns won the season series 5-0-1, winning all three games in Leamington. Flyers have a 3-18-1 record on home ice.