The Port Hope Predators played a home-and-home series against the Peterborough Stars in Ontario Junior Hockey League play on the weekend, where they came out with two points on a 4-3 win Friday and a 7-1 loss Sunday.

Friday’s game started off slowly, with only one penalty in the early moments of the first period and no scoring until the dying seconds. Dave Harris got lucky with seven seconds to go with a nifty move on Peterborough’s goalie, Mathieu Cadieux. Harris’ linemate, Louis-Alex Nadeau, put the puck in place for defenceman Alex Tillaart, who returned to the lineup this weekend after resting an injury, and he set up Harris.

Port Hope entered the second period with a newfound confidence, and Capt. Jeremy McCarty, combined with the team’s leading scorer, Tyler Miller, and rookie blueliner Brandon Howes at 2:46 to put the Preds up by two. Nils Hanfstingl added to the total at 12:15.

The Stars were given two minutes for interference which was just the right ingredient for a game-winning goal. The game-winner came from an unlikely source, but 16-year-old rookie Nic Camilleri of Oshawa potted the winner from McCarty and Nadeau at 13:38.

And then, things started to fall apart. “I think guys were getting complacent, they thought it was in the bag,” head coach Brendan O’Grady said.

Peterborough scored at 16:57 on Spencer Finney, who was tending goal alone as Port Hope had no backup.

The stars were aligned for Peterborough at the start of the third period as Port Hope started taking more penalty minutes, giving the Stars a chance to score on the power play at 11:41. They added another goal at 12:11, and nearly got the equalizer on Finney in the dying minutes, as Port Hope was slapped with a two-minute minor at 17:59.

Finney, who has come leaps and bounds in the last few weeks with all the ice he’s seen, kept his team in to hang on for the 4-3 win.

O’Grady was not impressed. “We stopped doing the little things right. We were taking dumb penalties, we were out of control with sticks, we were making stupid mistakes.”

Every week, O’Grady stresses the importance of not taking those crucial penalties, but they keep happening. “I think one of our penalty trouble players, Steve Harding, is gone, but it’s the same culprits a lot of the time and Friday night we sat down and we talked about that, but the reality is, if it doesn’t stop, action is going to be taken.”

That said, O’Grady said Harding was not used as an example. “He needed a change of scenery. When you have a reputation like he has, the refs notice you more. You have to play between the whistles and nothing else. The refs know which guys are the tough guys, and he’s been a tough guy in this league since he came in as a 16-year-old. And good for him, he is one of the toughest guys in the league. Steve Harding is a good kid, just didn’t gel with the Port Hope Predators, and it was time for him to move on.”

Port Hope’s general manager, Tim Clayden, said: “Steve was getting frustrated, and we were getting frustrated with all the penalties. He’s an excellent leader in the dressing room, and a lot of people don’t realize his value as a leader in the room, he sticks up for his teammates, and he’s a real team guy. The refs know him, though, and he gets a lot of penalties that are largely because of his reputation from his first two years in the league.

“There are lots of opportunities for him to play hockey, and a big, tough, stay-at-home, character defenceman is hard to find. He needs to figure out what he wants to do. There were a couple of teams in our division asking about him, and teams outside our division that want him. Maybe going to another division, where the refs don’t know him as much, he might get a couple more breaks, which is what I think he deserves.”

Suiting up for his first game as a Predator was Travis Savard. The 19-year-old centreman took the place of suspended Danny Greiner on the Harris-Nadeau line.

“Savard was not bad. I think he was a little nervous, but he was great on the draws, and he’ll be a great addition to our hockey team,” O’Grady said.

While face-off percentage is not a stat kept by the league, Savard did win a good deal of draws, helping the Preds gain early possession in some key situations. “It’s a small part of the game, but it’s great if we can get the puck right away,” O’Grady said.

He plans to keep Savard with Nadeau and Harris, and will put Greiner with Miller and McCarty on the team’s top line.

Finney remained between the pipes again as the Predators await the arrival of their new goaltender, Akos Agardy. Agardy’s rights were acquired from the Collingwood Blues last month, but he has not been able to play yet this season because he’s awaiting the go-ahead from Hockey Canada, as he is from Hungary.

“He has Canadian residency, but not Canadian citizenship, so every year he plays in Ontario, he has to get approval from Hockey Canada,” Clayden said.

With the absence of another goalie, O’Grady said he is pleased with his Finney’s performance thus far.

“Spencer made some big saves for us. He’s also getting into a bit of a groove. When our new goalie comes in on Tuesday, we need to have all the guys confident in both goalies.”

Playing alone is a high-stress situation for any goalie, and O’Grady said, “this league isn’t how it used to be where a team isn’t going to run your goalie because you don’t have a backup. We made the referees aware of the situation, and they made sure there were no hacks and slashes and craps in front of the net; they were quick with the whistle. Obviously, it would be a pretty ballsy move to go into a play-off game like that, and you wouldn’t go in with that kind of a situation to say, Trenton, but Peterborough isn’t the type of team that is going to have guys going out and looking to run your goalie.”

O’Grady was, as usual, impressed with his young players Friday night, including Camilleri, who scored the game winner.

“There’s a few young guys on our team, like Jake Taylor and Brandon Howes, as well as Nic,” he said. “And they don’t get the most ice, but they work hard, and they know that they have to go out there when they do get a chance, just because they’re not out there at crunch time, that they have to make the most of the time they do get.”

Camilleri said he “felt good” after scoring the game winner. Continuing what O’Grady was saying, Camilleri does feel as though he has something to prove each time he steps onto the ice.

“Well, if you want more ice, you have to earn it. And if you make a mistake, you might not see the ice again for a while, so I have to work hard.”

Just out of minor hockey, Camilleri said he enjoys the challenge of playing junior.

“It’s a lot quicker, the guys are bigger, and it’s more interesting. We get to travel to more places, go on the bus, which is good for the team.”

With Port Hope back into their winning ways, Camilleri said, “We need to keep it goin’. We don’t need any more losses, as long as guys keep working hard, I think everybody wants to be here.”

Adjusting to junior hockey is a big step, and as a young rookie, he said all the veterans have been integral.

“All of them, Tilly, (Tillaart), McCarty . . . everybody, really. They’ll tell you ‘Good shift,’ or something, just to keep you up, and they’re there to help whenever you need it. They’ve done well, and they lead by example.”

Camilleri, who is hoping to earn himself a scholarship, said he’d like to stay in the Port Hope organization to help him prepare for what lies ahead.

“I just want to keep playing hockey as long as I can.”

The Predators picked up a new blueliner, Jeff Lobman, from the Pickering Panthers Friday.

“We purchased his playing rights on Friday afternoon because were were short on defencemen, and he played his first game for us Friday night,” Clayden said. “Pickering wanted to have less billets, and so they wanted to move him. We have a good relationship with Pickering’s GM, Gary Waters, and we liked Jeff when we saw him in their exhibition game against us. His team wasn’t doing s well on the scoreboard, and he took on Steve Harding, who is one of the toughest guys in the league, which says a lot and says he’s a character guy. And the thing with him, is he’s a 1990-born player, so he’s still got a couple years left. We wanted to have someone that could stick around, so we’re not going out every year looking for six defencemen.”

The Preds are also working out a deal to acquire a 20-year-old defenceman, and are still talking to the player whose rights were picked up in the Blind River deal.

The Preds have two home games this weekend: Friday night against Bowmanville, and Sunday against Whitby. Both games begin at 7 p.m.

Watch Tuesday’s Evening Guide for more on last night’s game.