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Sackville clinches third place in Fox
Two superb hockey games in the Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League Friday evening that saw one team clinch third place in the Fred Fox Division. Following are the details:
To show you how bizarre things can be at times, the Sackville Blazers in five games with the Valley Maple Leafs this season were only able to win one of five games against the Leafs. The Leafs are a non-playoff team. However the Blazers did win three of five games against the Capstone Colts while outscoring them 23-22 in their regular season games. It took last night’s game in Shearwater to assure the Blazers of a first-round playoff match with the Colts as they defeated the Colts 6-4. The Blazers were able to clinch third place because they now have a four point lead on the Lumberjacks but even with a tie, the Blazers would have third because they have beaten the Lumberjacks in three of four games played between the two clubs this season despite being tied 14-14 in goals scored in the four games. The Blazers are 3-1-0 against the South Shore while the Lumberjacks are 1-2-1.
The teams played to a 2-2 draw after one period with three of the goals coming in the final 2:12 of the opening frame. Xavier Rivard and Lawson Cook made it 2-0 Sackville before Nik Xidos and Camden McKenzie scored in the final 1:32 of the first to tie the game at 2-2.
In the second Logan Mitchell scored the opening two goals of the second to put the Blazers back up by two but Finn Merritt then replied for the Colts and it was 4-3 Sackville after forty minutes. Ryan Welsh who also collected three assists scored to put Sackville up 5-3 before Liam Andrews short-handed effort made it 5-4 Blazers. Lucien Doucet put one into an empty net with 0.17 seconds left to make the final 6-4 Sackville. Cooper Puma recorded a pair of assists for the Colts while Leaf Korthale making only his second start of the season in the Blazers net made 43 of 47 saves to record the win. The Colts however outshot Sackville 47-25.
East Hants 3 Valley Maple Leafs 2 (Overtime)
The Valley Maple Leafs were up 2-0 after forty minutes at the John Paris Jr. Rink in Windsor Friday night but a rally by the potent Penguins saw East Hants pull out a 3-2 sudden-death overtime victory. The teams were scoreless after one period with the Leafs outshooting the Penguins 16-15. The Pens however started to strut their game in the second despite falling behind 2-0, they outshot the Leafs 20-8 as Graydon Mole played exceptionally well. The Leafs first goal came after Jacob Gerhardt made a nice move and took a bullet shot on Will Meeks in the Penguins net, only to see a rebound fall on the stick of Aidan MacLeod who was in a perfect position to put the puck into empty net to the right side of Meeks with 7:44 having elapsed in the middle period. Nick Goodwin then made it 2-0 Leafs on a beautiful wrist shot that eluded Meeks with 5:48 to play in the second.
The third period started with Alex Field scoring a tipsy-doodle goal as he stickhandled around Mole only 1:34 into the final period and the Pens trailed 2-1. It appeared the Leafs might be able to hang on until Chris Caissie scored on a sensational 2 on 1 break with only 3:40 remaining in regulation. The Leafs then took a pair of penalties as Lauchlin Levy took a slashing penalty only 18 seconds after the tying goal, then 37 seconds after Levy was back on the ice, Tyler Thomas took a roughing after the whistle minor with only 1:45 remaining in regulation. The Leafs were aggressive on the penalty kill and killed both off but had to start playing sudden-death a man short for 15 seconds. The Pens outshot the Leafs 18-9 in the third. With 2:56 left in sudden-death, Noah Comeau who played an aggressive game for the Penguins on the point carried the puck deep into Leafs territory, took a seemingly ordinary shot on the right side of the Leafs net only to see the puck find a bounce, go into the ai and drop down behind the back of Mole before he even knew it was in the net and the Pens took home a hard-earned 3-2 win while outshooting the Leafs 56-32. The Pens with the victory won their 25th game in 29 starts and will conclude the regular season Monday night in Sackville. The Leafs meanwhile are now 10-17-2 after a brutal 0-7-0 start to the regular season and will conclude their regular season Sunday night at home in Windsor against the Capstone Colts. Game time is 7:30 p.m.