The Port Hope Predators won their second straight game as they hit the road Monday night, defeating the Buffalo Junior Sabres 4-3 in Ontario Junior Hockey League action.

“It was a big win, a great win,” Predators head coach Brendan O’Grady said.

Port Hope gave up a goal early, at 1:52 of the first period, to get into a bit of a rut, but Anthony Tapper set up Capt. Jeremy McCarty to tie it up at 11:19.

Buffalo scored again to regain the lead and close out the first frame.

In the second period, each team took advantage of power plays — of which Buffalo had 10. The Junior Sabres scored just 32 seconds in, and Spencer Finney found himself back in goal for the Preds.

Blueliner Alex Tillaart rocketed in a goal at 16:58 on the power play from his D partner, Ryan Scheafer, and Louis-Alex Nadeau.

Port Hope’s resident sniper, Tyler Miller, found the net at 19:24 from Tillaart and Scheafer.

The game winner came courtesy of McCarty at 12:22 of the third, with help from Dave Williams and Tillaart. The team fought hard, killing penalty after penalty to keep the lead.

“We battled adversity, from being down two goals to killing two five-on-threes in the third. Spencer was wonderful,” O’Grady said.

After a skid of losing games by only one goal, the Preds are much happier, being back in the win column. “I think the guys are buying in, and they’re playing good hockey. It’s nice to see them working hard, and coming from a two-goal deficit."

As for the officiating, O’Grady said “we had phantom calls all over the place, it was awful. As soon as they’d get a call, we’d get one right after and they’d get a power play.”

With the Buffalo win and a victory over the Trenton Hercs Sunday night in a big divisional rival matchup at home, O’Grady said “the guys are starting to believe we’re a good team. The Tapper-McCarty-(Dave) Williams line has been great, and Travis Savard has been coming into it the last couple games. Miller is Miller, he’s getting points. The (Mitch) Moffatt-(Dave) Harris-Nadeau line has been good, too. When you get all three lines rolling and put them all on the ice to get some secondary scoring, it’s good. And then we have our energy line, with (Peter) Baldwin, (Nic) Cammilleri and (Brandon) Howes, we can put them out after we score a goal, or after we get scored on. They bring energy back to the game.”

Finney, who is only 17, is playing through one of the toughest parts of the season, with a taxing schedule and many cross-over games. “Spencer puts a lot of pressure on himself, and he gets it from within, too. But he needs to play through it. When I put him in last night, he said, he was just going to go out there and have fun. He said he had nothing to lose, because we were already losing. He’s young, he is not expected to carry this hockey team. In a couple years, he will.”

McCarty is 18, which is also young by league standards for a captain, and while he was putting pressure on himself to score during a bit of a slump he was having before Sunday’s five-goal outing, he “has a lot of good hockey years left in him,” O’Grady said. “If he’s feeling like he hasn’t been scoring, he still has whatever 40 points in 22 games. His new linemates go hard, go to the wall and if he can get some open ice they’re going to get him the puck. He’s got great knack around the net. I’ve seen someone score five goals before, but he’s probably only the third one. He had a big one right out of the players’ bench on Sunday night and he had the game winner in Buffalo off a nice play from Tapper and Williams.”

This week is going to be tough as the Ruddock Division gets even tighter in the middle. “Trenton has a tough week. They work hard and have good goaltending, but I think it was our skill that got them on Sunday.”

The Predators are now in fourth place with 24 points, just behind the Peterborough Stars who have 25. The Stars played the Hercs (19) in Trenton last night, and Trenton plays second-last Whitby tomorrow night, while Peterbourgh plays Whitby Friday, and the Preds take on the Hercs in Trenton Friday.

“A bad weekend or a good weekend by any team can mean the difference between second and seventh,” O’Grady said.

The Preds are back at home Sunday to take on the Ajax Attack at 7 p.m.