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When the Chatham Maroons acquired Carter Gillen at the trade deadline, the scouting report on the veteran defenceman boiled down to this: he makes his teams better.
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That was certainly the case Sunday.
Gillen’s two goals led the Maroons to a 4-3 win over the St. Marys Lincolns in Game 2 of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Western Conference final before 1,065 fans at Chatham Memorial Arena.
“We played a great game,” Gillen said. “Our goalie played spectacular. Gannon Hunter had a few great saves there in the end and he kept us in it.”
After the Maroons saw their two-goal lead disappear in the third period, Gillen’s second goal snapped a 3-3 tie with 3:36 left in regulation.
“Kudos to us,” Maroons forward Dylan Richter said. “We hung in there. When they came back, they kind of grabbed the momentum, but Gillen was able to make a nice play and grab one for us and we were able to hold on.”
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Gillen took a pass from Richter and beat Lincolns netminder Nico Armellin from the left point for the winner.
“I saw low was open, so I punched it home,” Gillen said. “It was a great play cross-ice to find me and I really appreciate my teammates giving me that puck and trusting me to go low.”
The best-of-seven series is tied 1-1 going into Game 3 Tuesday in St. Marys at 7:30 p.m. Game 4 will be Thursday in Chatham at 7:30 p.m.
The Maroons acquired Gillen, 20, from the Leamington Flyers in January for his energy and his hockey smarts. He wasn’t a big scorer in the regular season with two goals in 36 games, but he was happy to chip in Sunday.
“If it wants to happen every game, we’ll take it,” he said, “but the biggest thing was just our D (defence) blocking shots, our wingers getting pucks out and our goalie was making tremendous saves.”
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Gillen already has exceeded his regular-season production with three goals in 14 playoff games.
“I’m just here to win a championship,” he said. “Our goal is to win that Sutherland Cup and whatever I have to do and however I have to adjust my game to win a Sutherland Cup, it doesn’t matter to me.”
Gillen was injured soon after the trade. He sat out all but one game in the final month of the regular season, but he hasn’t missed a playoff game.
“It feels amazing to be back,” he said.
VETERANS SCORE: All four Maroons goals came from graduating players. Connor Hunt, on a power play, and Brody Gillis scored in the opening 10 minutes for a 2-0 lead.
Ryan Hodkinson answered late in the period on a Lincolns power play, but Gillen restored the Maroons’ two-goal cushion midway through the second.
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“We knew they’d have a good push with their home rink,” Lincolns head coach Jeff Bradley said. “We were trying to limit that as much as we could, but we definitely came out a little more flat than we thought.
“They were getting out through the neutral zone against us pretty easily, so we changed one thing up and I think that kind of catapulted us to get a little bit of momentum back. I thought the latter half of the game we played pretty well.”
Lincoln Moore scored in the third period at 3:17 and Ryan Cornfield followed at 9:29 for the 3-3 tie.
Maroons coaches have spoken all playoffs about being even-keeled, so players didn’t panic when the Lincolns drew even.
“I played against these guys the last two years and they’re never out of it,” Richter said. “You could be up 5-0, you need to play a full 60 to beat them. I think we did a pretty good job with that tonight. We’ve just got to (stay) not too high, not too low.”
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Richter spent the previous two seasons with the Strathroy Rockets, which were swept by the Lincolns from the 2023 and ’24 playoffs.
“It’ll be nice to get them back this year,” he said.
Hunter made 36 saves and Armellin made 37 in the clash of rookie goalies.
DYNAMIC DEFENCE: Gillen’s three playoff goals are tied for second among GOJHL defencemen.
Maroons blue-liners have scored six in the playoffs, while the Lincolns’ have only two.
“We have a very dynamic defence,” Richter said. “I think that’s what separates us from other teams. We can score from any spot. They jump in the play, but they know when to stay back. Gillen, he’s very dynamic, and you saw it tonight when he scored two nice goals for us.”
Maroons captain Blain Bacik leads all GOJHL defencemen in playoff scoring with 12 points. Ryan VanNetten has nine, Gillen has seven and Jaxen Fortier-Smith has six.
Ex-Maroon Owen Kalp of Chatham leads the Lincolns defencemen with five points.
NOTES: Maroons defenceman Josh Harding had a career-high three assists. Richter and Liam Campbell each had two. … The Maroons were 1 for 4 on the power play. The Lincolns were 1 for 2. … Maroons affiliate player Eamon Edgar played his fifth post-season game. He’s been called up because the Maroons need a right-handed centre to replace injured Parker Nyitray. … The St. Catharines Falcons and Fort Erie Meteors are tied 1-1 in the Eastern Conference final.
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