Raiders fail to take stranglehold

After netting six goals in the opening game of the series, offence has become an area of concern again for the Georgetown Raiders in their first-round playoff series with the Streetsville Derbys. The host Raiders had an opportunity to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the OHA Provincial Jr. A Hockey League best-of-7 West Conference quarter-final on Wednesday night, but lost to the determined Derbys, 2-1, on a third-period Steve Tamaridis marker. Georgetown outshot Streetsville 26-24, and while Derby netminder Tyler Gordon was spectacular in his first appearance the series, the Raiders once again had many odd-man offensive breaks that didn't result with attempts on goal. There was also some controversy with 21 seconds left in the third period when the Raiders felt they had scored the equalizer, but referee Darren Price waved it off and didn't punish a Streetsville defender for intentionally pushing the net off its moorings. "The officiating wasn't why we lost the game," said Raiders' coach Jay Anderson. "We've put ourselves in a position where we're not finishing off our plays around the net and what ends up happening when you let a team like Streetsville hang around, you give them a chance to pull out a win. So we'll try to start another two-game win streak Friday night in their barn." A brilliant wrist shot by Georgetown's leading scorer, Mike Gurtler, in the first period was all the offence the Raiders could generate on the evening. The Derbys struck first on a rare softie surrendered by Georgetown goalie Ryan Gibb. Game four of the series is slated for tonight in Streetsville, with game five at Georgetown's Mold-Masters SportsPlex on Saturday. Both contests have a 7:30 p.m. start time. In game two Tuesday at Streetsville, defenceman Ryan Hirtle-St. Denis tallied early in the first period for the Raiders, and although they had several more scoring opportunities than Streetsville-- including a woeful 0 for 10 with the man advantage-- the visitors weren't in the clear until another blueliner, Erik Lundmark, and Jeremy Whelan scored within a minute late in the third period to close out a 3-0 triumph. Gibb made 24 saves to record the shutout. Anderson said the prognosis doesn't look good for Raider defenceman Andrew Dennis, who suffered a leg injury in the third period of Tuesday's game. The 20-year-old assistant captain and two-year vet with the OHL's Barrie Colts is out indefinitely. "It looks fairly serious and we don't know if he'll be back at all," said the Raider head coach. "He's going to be reassessed and we just don't know. It's a shame because he's been a huge chunk of our team all year."

Referee Price called just five minor penalties during game three, but Georgetown forward Kyle Termini said

he expects the next two games of the series to be a punishing test for both clubs. "We play our best when we're physical and hard-hitting and most teams in

this league are scared of us when we play like that," said Termini, 20. "As a team lately, we've been at the top of our game and what happened (Wednesday night) was just a lapse at the end. We'll be fine." RAIDER RAP: Raiders' director of player personnel Peter Mavroudis suffered a badly bruised hip after falling in an aisle of the Vic Johnston Community Centre on Tuesday night. It took several minutes for paramedics to help Mavroudis out of the rink during the first period...The Burlington Cougars defeated the host Oakville Blades 5-4 in double OT Wednesday but still trail that West Conference quarter-final 2-1. Milton swept Mississauga 4-0 and Hamilton led Brampton 3-0 heading into Thursday night's game four.