Canton icers net impressive KLAA
road victory at Lakeland

Dec. 10, 2009, 2:30 a.m.

  Canton's penalty-killers were dead-on Wednesday night.

  And it's a good thing considering how frequently the Chiefs were sent to the penalty box, particularly in the second period.

  Canton, which killed all six of its short-handed situations, registered a well-deserved 4-1 triumph over Lakeland to improve to 3-2-1 overall and 1-2-1 in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association.

  The Chiefs' short-handed special-teams unit has come a long way since it surrendered five power-play goals to Novi two weeks ago.

  "We were short-handed most of the second period," revealed Canton coach Jeremy Majszak, "but we did a great job of shutting down their power play. Our fore-checking was outstanding."

  Sophomore Spencer Craig -- one of three Chief goalies to start at least one game this season -- earned the win, turning away 28 shots.

  Majszak also praised the play of unheralded sophomores Brandon Grillo and Shawn May, whom he said were instrumental in the win.

  First-period goals from AJ Rosales and Jordan Smith staked the Chiefs to a 2-0 lead after the opening 17 minutes of play. Rosales' lamp-lighter came on a wrister from the slot while Smith jammed in a rebound from the doorstep.

  "Jordan did a great job of finding the puck in a crowd and putting it in," said Majszak. "That's something we've been working hard at in practice."

  The second period was scoreless. However, a valiant effort by Matt Rodgers nearly upped the Chiefs' lead to three goals.

  Canton padded its cushion to 3-0 mid-way through the third period when Alec Gilo scored his first career high school goal when he tipped in a Josh Dickson pass in front.

  The Eagles tallied their only goal with five minutes left to slice their deficit to 3-1.

  "After they scored, we called a time out and settled everybody down," Majszak said. "Everybody played very well the final five minutes."

  Kyle Korte deposited an icing-on-the-cake goal with 90 seconds left when he placed the puck top shelf off a nifty Rosales feed.

  Canton returns to action Saturday at Farmington Unified. The opening face-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Farmington Ice Arena.

  Ed Wright can be reached at (734) 453-1980 or [email protected].