The Chatham Maroons exploded for five goals in the third period in their 6-3 win over the Rockets in Strathroy Saturday night.
The Maroons kept themselves in a tie for second place in the Western Conference standings with the London Nationals at 61 points each.
Chris Wood got the Rockets up first with a power play goal at 6:34 in the first period. That would be the only time a puck would cross the goal line in the opening frame. The Maroons found themselves shorthanded five times during the first period, and had three unsuccessful power plays.
Austin Thompson's goal at 9:42 in the second period tied things up for Chatham at a goal apiece. Strathroy put themselves up by a goal once more later in the period when Navrin Mutter lit the lamp. The score was 2-1 Rockets after 40 minutes of play.
Maroons goalie Brendan Johnston, who had 40 saves in the winning effort, saw the challenge they had at that point.
"It was a pretty hard fought game out there. Us and Strathroy have had a rivalry and the boys didn't start out that great but we built and built, and in the third period we came in strong and took them out," said Johnston.
Chatham scored three unanswered goals to start the third period off. Ethan Sarfati, Bryce Yetman and Teddy McGeen were the goal scorers in order. Ty Glover got a goal back for Strathroy at 14:03 in the period, but the Maroons added two more to seal the win, with Thompson scoring his second goal of the game and Brendan D'Agostino closing it out.
Johnston was pleased to see the defensive effort come together in the final frame.
"They had some pretty good chances but the boys were working hard on D-zone," said Johnston. "A lot of it was from the outside so it wasn't too bad. I was just making the saves that I made."
The Maroons host St. Marys Thursday night, and next Saturday St. Marys turns and welcomes the Rockets.