GrayJay Sports
League News
Pirates upend the Lumberjacks on the road
Port Hawkesbury 5 South Shore 1
With the exception of two thumpings at the hands of the Antigonish Jr. Bulldogs, the Port Hawkesbury Strait Pirates are proving to be an unpredictable team so far in this 24-25 Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League season. Take away the 2 losses to the Bulldogs and the Pirates are 2-2-2 on the season with their second win coming in Bridgewater Saturday night as they sidelined the South Shore Lumberjacks 5-1 with a three goal explosion in the third period.
The Pirates power-play was working on all cylinders as their first three goals all came with the Lumberjacks playing a man short. Colin Preyer made it 1-0 Strait and then Leo MacLean who finished the night with a pair of goals and an assist scored late in the second to give the Strait a 2-0 lead entering the third. Cadyn Power scored his 6th of the season also on the power-play to put the Strait up 3-0 mid-way through the third. Aaron Lane finally found the back of the net for the Lumberjacks with 6:48 to play but shortly after that the Lumberjacks who fell to 2-4-0 on the season decided to pull their goaltender trailing 3-1 but that failed miserably as the Strait concluded the game with a pair of empty net goals from Rory Wood and MacLean’s second of the evening. Keir Jordan and Landon Macintosh both recorded a pair of assists for the Strait while newcomer Neil MacLean was making his first start in goal of the season for Port Hawkesbury and he stopped 36 of 37 shots he faced as the Lumberjacks did outshoot the Pirates 37-24. The Lumberjacks obviously need some work on their power-play effectiveness as they ahem scored only 5% of their power-play chances in this young season. The Strait Pirates are in back in action tonight when they play the Pictou County Scotians.
Membertou 4 Eskasoni Jr. Eagles 2
In what appears to be a season-long battle for playoff positioning in the Sid Rowe Division, the Membertou Jr. Miners doubled up the Eskasoni Jr. Eagles in Membertou Saturday night. The teams exchanged a pair of first period goals with Tyler Seymour connecting for the Jr. Miners and Rylan Perry’s short-handed effort for the Eagles tying the game at 1-1 after twenty minutes. Alex Chenhall and Ryland Hannrahan scored in the second period to put the Miners up 3-1 after forty minutes before Arlen Denny brought the Eagles back to within one at 3-2 on the power play in the third period. Michael MacDonald of the Jr. Miners concluded the game’s scoring to make the final 4-2. Lucas Fraser stopped 33 of 35 shots for the Jr. Miners. Chenhall’s goal and assist now gives him 4 goals and 7 assists 7 games and places him near the top of the League Scoring Title. Special teams will still need work for the Jr. Miners after they gave up a short-handed goal and a power-play goal in their win. The Jr. Miners have connected only 8% of the time on the power-play this season.