It’s a long skate uphill for the Trenton Golden Hawks in their East Conference Semifinal Series.
The Hawks had a brief lead get washed out in a 5-1 Game 3 loss to the Newmarket Hurricanes to fall behind 3-0 in the best-of-seven series.
Trenton quieted the home crowd late in the first on a rebound goal from Thomas Kuipers, as the captain from Carrying Place burrowed himself in front of the net after Andrew Wycisk drove the puck into the zone and fed Duncan Schneider for a one-timer that was knocked home.
The tide turned when Newmarket knotted the score at one courtesy of a Lucas Texeira shorthanded marker, his second in many games in the season, followed by an ill-advised head-butting infraction committed by Schneider.
On the ensuing four-minute powerplay, Connor Haynes cleaned up a rebound and deposited the puck past Hayden Jeffery to lift the ‘Canes into the lead at 7:23.
Later in the period, Jesse Venturo jumped on an opportunity and took advantage, beating Jeffery to expand the lead to two.
Absolutely nothing seemed to be bouncing Trenton’s way in the second and that theme carried over into the third.
Chase Yanni squeezed a tight shot through Jeffery’s pads on a broken play at 3:53 to increase the gap, then put home an empty netter in the final minute to send Trenton scurrying back home in a perilous spot.
For the first time since 2023, the Hawks face elimination in a playoff series, but will be returning to their friendly confines of the Duncan McDonald Community Gardens for Game 4 and a chance to stay alive at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
