The Tikis skated to a somewhat surprising 5-1 victory over the Aeros in Rideau-St. Lawrence Junior B Hockey League playoff action here on Tuesday night.

The opening game of the series provided a bit of a shocker to the Aeros by the Tikis.

Brockville led 1-0 after the first period and 3-0 after 40 minutes.

"It was definitely nice to get the first one in their rink," said Tikis head coach Adam Folco. "We have to win at least one in their rink."

The Tikis started well, killing off an Athens powerplay near the end of the first period and then scoring shortly after the penalty expired.

"That was a big turning point in the game. To get that first goal after the momentum of that (penalty) kill was huge," said Folco.

Steve Joudoin scored for the Tikis with just 1:32 left in the first period.

In the second period, Shane Melcher gave the Tikis a 2-0 lead at the 4:51 mark.

Then, Doug Utting made it 3-0 with just 2:55 remaining in the second period.

"We won a lot of battles, got the puck in deep in their end, forechecked them," said Folco. "We held their top line to not very many chances. They played their No. 1 line a lot and we were able to control them."

In the third period, Rideau Division scoring champ Daniel Lacroix scored at the 5:17 mark to cut the Brockville lead to 3-1.

The Tikis then responded with two insurance goals.

Alex Bouchey, probably one of the hottest Tikis over the last month of the season scored with 11:20 left in the game and then wrapped up the scoring for Brockville with 7:44 left in the game.

"Our depth is pretty good. They might have a few more skill players but when we can keep three or four lines rolling, we have a really good chance," said Folco.

The Tikis outshot the Aeros 35-26.

Jeremy Nichols and Robert Rice each had two assists for the Tikis.

Game two will be tonight in Brockville at the Memorial Centre at 7:45.

It's not a must-win for the Aeros but they can't really afford to fall behind 2-0 in the best-of-seven series.

"We don't have to change too much," said Folco. "We played pretty well in the third period, probably one of our best periods all year. We just have to keep it going."

After tonight, the series goes back to Athens on Sunday night for a 7:30 start.