GrayJay Sports
League News
Lumberjacks clinch
Two series have now been decided with two others still being fought for.
The latest series win came in shocking fashion in Lantz Friday evening.
South Shore 8 East Hants 3
The Lumberjacks were 0-4-1 against the Penguins in the regular season, with East Hants being division winners with a 26-4-0 record. However at playoff time, those regular season results did not amount to one iota as the Lumberjacks clinched their divisional semi-final with an 8-3 thumping of the Pens Friday night before an almost sold-out Keith Miller Arena at the East Hants Sportsplex, winning the series 4-1.
The Penguins biggest issue was trying to beat Keegan Greencorn in the South Shore nets. The Pens outshot the Lumberjacks 50-24 including 22-6 in the opening period and 20-12 in the second period but the Pens only scored once in the opening forty minutes before netting two in the third.
East Hants started strong on a nice 3 on 2 but Ryan Langlois missed a fantastic scoring opportunity as he was on the Lumberjacks doorstep but simply could not connect. Brandon Rideout came right back down the ice for the Lumberjacks before being knocked off the puck by Pens defensman Isaac Lawson. Connor McNamara then missed a pair of great chances before Devin Meagher had another excellent chance with Greencorn standing strong every time. Noah Comeau also missed a great opportunity as the Pens were outplaying the South Shore in the opening ten minutes of the game. The Pens then thought they gained new life when the Lumberjacks drew a double minor, but only 9 seconds later, the Penguins ruined their first power-play by taking a minor penalty.
With 7:35 left to play in the first, Ryan Langlois missed another great chance as Greencorn was down and out but Langlois simply could not lift the puck over Greencorn and the game remained scoreless. The Pens finally scored as Finley Diab picked up a loose puck in the Lumberjacks zone and put it into a wide-open net. However the Lumberjacks had control of the puck and during this delayed penalty, Dawson O’Connell took a wrist shot short-handed with 3:06 left in the opening frame to tie the game at 1-1.
In the second, it seemed like the Pens knew what they had to do but became mesmerized by trying to get a puck past Greencorn. They fired 20 shots at Greencorn but could not come up with a single goal while the Lumberjacks took 12 shots scoring four times. The first came 1:21 into the second on a soft wrist shot from the point with Nathan MacVicar picking up the rebound and sliding a soft shot past the Blazers goalie Fintan Boudreau. The South Shore then took another penalty but with only 45 seconds having elapsed, Cohen Westlake let a blistering wrist shot go from the tip of the face-off circle and it was 3-1 Lumberjacks,
With 5:35 left in the second and East Hants on another power-play, they were all over Greencorn but simply come hell or high water could not beat Greencorn. With 4:06 left in the second after East Hants spent far too much time passing the puck in the offensive zone, they ended up losing it to Joe Osborne who jumped on the puck and broke down the wing for a beautiful goal to make it 4-1. The Lumberjacks completed their scoring with their 4th of the second period as Cohen Westlake scored on a nice shot as he was left all alone 10 feet in front of the East Hants net and took a clean shot to make it 5-1. East Hants led in shots 42-18 after forty minutes but found themselves down by four goals.
In the third period with only 2:24 elapsed, Davis Cooper scored for the Pens to make it 5-2 by taking a shot from 15 feet out and it was 5-2. The comeback feeling did not last as only 33 seconds later Elijah Rivera scored on a bad angle to make the score 6-2. Liam Sylvester put the Lumberjacks up 7-2 before the third period was five minutes old. Elijah Rivra then made it 8-2 before Jayson Hanson closed the game’s scoring with 7:25 to go in regulation. East Hants outshot South Shore 8-6 in the third period. In total the Lumberjacks had four power-play goals and one short-handed marker. Besides Westlake’s two goals, he also collected a pair of assists.
This now marks two consecutive seasons, the underdog Lumberjacks have won play-off series against East Hants. The Pens Coaching Staff and Management will have to go back to the drawing board and figure out some way that after prolific regular seasons, they can somehow get back into the Provincial Championship Hunt. The Lumberjacks now advance to play the winner of the Capstone Colts-Sackville Blazers series in the Fox Divisional Final. That series is expected to begin next Friday or Saturday,
Capstone Colts 6 Sackville Blazers 2
The Colts scored three unanswered goals in the opening period to jump it front of the Sackville Blazers and went onto to take a 3-2 Divisional Semi-Final lead over Sackville Friday evening at C.F.B. Shearwater. Nick Morin, Jack Dulong’s short-handed marker and Jacob Trioni-Willis scored to give the Colts their wide-margin after twenty minutes.
Will Meek brought the Blazers back to within a two-goal deficit in the second before Xavier Coggins and Liam Andrews brought the Colts lead back to four goals. Liam Andrews with his 10th of the playoffs in five games made it 6-1 Colts before Logan Mitchell concluded the game’s scoring in the third for Sackville. The Colts outshot the Blazers 51-28 with Conar Blackwood turning away 45 of the 51 shots he faced in the Sackville nets. Winning net minder Conar Brace did not have as an exhausting night turning away 26 of 28 shots in the Colts net.
Game 6 in this series with Colts out in front 3-2 goes Monday evening in Sackville at 7:30 p.m.
Pictou 6 Membertou 2
The Scotians have caught fire after splitting the opening two games of their series with the Jr. Miners and now have a 3-1 led in their Rowe Divisional Semi-Final after last night’s tripling of Membertou 6-2. The League’s Regular season scoring champion Lane Lochead scored once and added two assists for Pictou while Matt Carson scored twice and added an assist. Brett Murphy and Cale MacLaughin both had a goal and an assist for the winners as did Wyatt Spence. Landon Clark and Kegan Corbet both scored for the Jr. Miners who were tied in shots for the game with Pictou at 38-38. The Scotians will try and advance to the division final against with another win over Membertou in Trenton Sunday evening at 6:00 p.m.