Blake Underwood notched his second consecutive hat trick as the Saugeen Shores Winterhawks confirmed their grasp of 3rd place in the WOAA's North Division.
The Winterhawks pulled away late from a tenacious Shelburne Muskies squad for a 6-4 win.
Jay Thomson opened the scoring just 2:18 into the game, beating Shelburne goalie Ed Davey to make it 1-0, with assists going to Greg Wardell and Andy Mitchell.
Underwood picked up his first of the night just over three minutes later, beating Davey on a goal assisted by Brent MacDermid and Trent Hawke.
The Winterhawks peppered Davey with 16 shots in the 1st period, but that's all they could get past the Muskies goalie, while Josh Sturrock saw only three shots in his return to the Winterhawks net.
The Muskies came out flying in the 2nd period, scoring two quick goals by Santino Di Florio and Steve McSwain to tie the game up at 2-2 by the 4:33 mark of the 2nd.
The Winterhawks answered back a short time later, with MacDermid picking the top corner on Davey to restore the lead for the Winterhawks.
Underwood's second of the game made it 4-2 with just 46 seconds left in the period, as he banged home a puck at the side of the net on the powerplay, with MacDermid and Mitchell assisting.
The hat-trick was complete at the 4:33 mark of the 3rd, when Underwood took a feed at the side of the net from MacDermid to make it 5-2 Winterhawks. Kyle Roulston also assisted on the goal.
Things looked to be in control, but the pesky Muskies wouldn't go away, as McSwain put his second of the game past a helpless Sturrock on a 5-on-3 at 12:33 of the 3rd, then Dylan Davison made it a one-goal game on another powerplay marker at 15:55.
Mitchell made Winterhawks fans breathe easier as he stole the puck off of a Shelburne defender late in the 3rd to score unassisted to arrive at a score of 6-4.
Sturrock picked up the win in goal as the Winterhawks outshot the Muskies 43-24.
Underwood picked up Wismer House Player of the Game honours with three goals, while MacDermid completed the Gordie Howe Hat Trick with a goal, three assists and a fight.
The win secures 3rd place for the Winterhawks (14-8-2) and a first round match-up with the Durham Thundercats when the playoffs get underway next weekend. A full schedule will be posted when it's official.
The Winterhawks still have one game left in the regular season, and while it may not have any bearing on the standings, it's still a big one.
The clock will be turned back as the Mapleton-Minto 81's visit The Plex, as the Winterhawks will pay tribute to one of Saugeen Shores most lasting sports legacies, the Port Elgin Sunocos.
The Winterhawks will wear Sunocos throwback jerseys, which will be auctioned off during and after the game, with all proceeds going to the Liv-A-Little Foundation to find a cure for cystinosis.
The game gets underway at 7:30 p.m. at The Plex.
with files from winterhawks.net.
