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Bulldogs double Pens, Scotians blank Blues for third time this season

The AA Munro Antigonish Jr. Bulldogs found themselves in quite a hockey game Friday Nov 26 in Lantz but still managed to go up 3-0 and then hang on in the third period for a 4-2 win over the East Hants Penguins.  The Jr. Bulldogs with the win increased their impressive record on 2021-2022 to 13-0-1 for 27 points.  The Pens are now 7-6-0 on the season.  The two teams played two fairly even periods but the Jr. Bulldogs were better at keeping the playing moving in the offensive zone than the Pens for periods of time.  Sam Mattie and Fearghus MacDonald went in 2 on 1 but MacDonald could not complete a pass from Mattie and the puck went wide of the net.  Back down the ice and the Pens Evan McHenry rang a shot off the Jr. Bulldogs crossbar. The Bulldogs scored first as Ben MacLellan connected with a wrist shot from the blue line.

 
 
The Pens came flying back but Ethan Wheeler’s pass over to Marshall Plaandowski and the Bulldogs Cody MacEachern came up with a nice glove save.  The Bulldogs then made it 2-0 as Will Fitzsimmons took a wrist shot high to the left hand side of the Pens net from the tip of the late face-off circle on a pass from Sam MacNeill with 3:59 remaining in the first.  Both teams had 11 shots on goal in the opening frame but the Jr. Bulldogs led 2-0.
 
To start the second, Brody Fraser of the Pens from in close let a hard shot go at MacEachern but to no avail.  Sam Mattie of the Bulldogs made it 3-0 only 59 seconds into the middle period as he maintained control of the puck and kept control until he forced a scramble for the black rubber in front of the Pens net and shoved it home for what proved to be the game winner.  The game changed somewhat at this point as the Pens really began to pick up their play.  Morgan Lake of the Pens came in with a booming shot only to be blocked by MacEachern in the Antigonish nets.  The Pens then did everything but score as Max Turner was in close, the first shot going off the pads of MacEachern as Turner trying as hard as he did could not get the puck up and over MacEachern who eventually ended up with a delay of game penalty with 9:48 yo play in the second.  Brodie Fraser then scored the Pens first goal of the game with some great stick-handling and he ended up putting the puck into the Antigonish net on the low left side of MacEachern.  East Hants outshot the Jr. Bulldogs 14-13 in the second but still trailed 3-1 over forty minutes.  Less than five minutes into the third period, Marshall Plandowski picked up a loose puck in front of the Antigonish net and scored short-handed to bring his team back to within a goal at 3-2.  Sam Mattie had a chance at the Bulldogs 4th goal while his team was playing short-handed when he went in on a break-away but could not get a clear shot away.  East Hants really began applying pressure in the third with some excellent scoring opportunities again by Brody Fraser, Turner again and Lake who missed in close.  The Pens outshot the Bulldogs 15-6 in the final period but the game ended with East Hants having their goalie pulled in the final 31 seconds, only to see Sam Grant grab a loose puck and skate in and put it into the empty Pens net for a 4-2 Antigonish final.  East Hants held a 40-30 shots advantage.  The Jr. Bulldogs will be looking for their 14th win of the season at home Sunday vs Brookfield while the Pens are idle until Friday Dec 4 when they host the Cumberland County Blues.
 
Elsewhere Friday……..The Sackville Blazers were surprised at CFB Shearwater Stadium by the Capstone Cole Harbour Colts by a score of 4-2.  It was the Blazers last regular season visit this year to Shearwater having defeated the Colts 4-2 in the opening game of the season back on Oct 1.  This game was only 30 seconds old when Degen Noble made it 1-0 Blazers before Benjamin Veinot came back to tie it for the Colts exactly 7 minutes later.  The Blazers still took a 2-1 lead after the first period when Daniel Surrette tallied for the Blazers.  The Colts reinvigorated in the second as Liam McCulloch and Connor McNamara score five minutes apart in the middle frame and the Colts took a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes.  Mid-way through the third Will McRae scored an insurance goal for the Colts to give them a 4-2 win.  This was the first game of what would turn into 3 games in 4 days for both clubs as the Colts move to Brookfield Saturday afternoon and the Blazers to Liverpool Sunday afternoon before the Colts and Blazers play for the third time this season Mon Nov 29 in Sackville at 7:30 p.m.
 
Pictou  5      Cumberland  0
 
The Pictou County Scotians completed a four game regular-season sweep over the Cumberland County Blues with their 5-0 shut-out in Springhill Friday night.  Branden Connors recorded the shut-out for the Scotians who outshot the Blues 38-23.  Matt Chediac kept his consistent scoring pace going for the Scotians giving them a 1-0 lead after twenty minutes.  Connor Aucoin, another vaunted offensive threat all season for the Scotians and Blake Kontuk made it 3-0 Scotians after two periods before Aucoin with his second of the game and Thomas Kennaley scored the game’s final two goals in the third for the 5-0 Pictou win.  Matt Carson picked up a pair of assists for the Scotians as well.  In the four game regular season seres, the Scotians shut-out the Blues 3 times by scores of 4-0, 5-0 and 6-0 while winning a close one in Pictou 3-2.
 
Port Hawkesbury  6    Valley Maple Leafs  3
 
The Leafs opened their Cape Breton road trip in Port Hawkesbury Friday night and despite outshooting the Canadian Tire Store Pirates 42-39, simply could not find the back of the net as often as the Pirates did.  Cullen MacEachern and Nolan McClelland scored 3:50 apart mid-way through the first to put the home team up 2-0.  Then with less than 7 minutes to play in the first, both clubs exchanged goals exactly 2 minutes apart as the Leafs Eric Wozniewicz brought the Leafs back to within 2-1 before Jason Johnson made it 3-1 Pirates after twenty minutes.  Gregor Yoell scored the eventual game winner for the Pirates and then Cullen MacEachern short-handed notched his 2nd of the game and the Pirates were up 5-1.  Brady MacLean brought the Leafs back to within 3, 42 seconds after MacEachern’s short-handed effort and it was 5-2 Strait Pirates after 40 minutes.  Gregor Yoell’s second of the game made it 6-2 Pirates wth under 8 minutes to play and Matthew Benedict rounded out the Leafs scoring with 32 seconds left in regulation to make the final 6-3 Canadian Tire Store Strait Pirates.  Matthew Raikke added 3 assists for the Pirates.
Nov 29, 2021
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Bulldogs highest scoring team - Valley and Brookfield need work on defence

With the Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League having surpassed the 1/4 mark of their 2021-22 Regular season and with some teams closing in on the half-way mark, one always sees the scores and of course the Goals Forward and Goals Against for each team in the standings.  However it not that often when teams offence on a per game basis is matched up with other teams in the league, so today we will look at goals being scored per game and goals being allowed per game by individual teams.

 
First, we will scan the offence and teams are listed from top to bottom in their offensive production per game.
 
1.   Antigonish —— 5.1
2.   East Hants — 5.0
3.   Port Hawkesbury — 4.4
4.   Sackville — 4.2
5.   Membertou — 3.9
5.   Eskasoni — 3.9
7.   Liverpool — 3.7
7.   Pictou — 3.7
8.   Capstone (Cole Harbour) — 3.5
9.   Valley — 3.0
9.   Brookfield — 3.0
10. Cumberland - 2.5
 
The League’s two highest scoring teams will collide in Lantz Friday night at 7:30 as the 12-0-1 AA Munro Antigonish Jr. Bulldogs travel to play the East Hants Penguins.
 
Now a look at teams who will need some improvement on defence.  Teams are listed from top to bottom in least goals allowed per game.
 
1.  Port Hawkesbury — 3.0
2.  Pictou — 3.1
2.  Liverpool - 3.1
2.  Sackville — 3.1
3.  Antigonish — 3.3
3.  Membertou — 3.3
4.  East Hants - 3.5
5.  Cumberland - 4.4
6.  Cole Harbour (Capstone) — 4.6
6.  Eskasoni — 4.6
7.  Valley — 5.1
8.  Brookfield - 5.4
Nov 24, 2021
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Jr. Bulldogs lose first of season, Strait Pirates lose 3rd straight

The Pictou County Scotians recorded their 5th win in nine games in the NSJHL this season and the win was even larger as they defeated their arch-rivals the Antigonish AA Munro Jr. Bulldogs 3-2 in sudden-death overtime Sunday evening in Trenton and in the process handed the Jr. Bulldogs their first loss of the season after Antigonish had won 12 in a row.  Connor Aucoin and Matt Carson who both had three point nights fr the Scotians had superlative games for Pictou and goaltender Jack Cameron was strong turning away 43 of 45 shots he faced as the Jr. Bulldogs outshot the Scotians 45-33.  Aucoin with his goal and two assists now has 11 goals and 11 assists on the season.  His goal in sudden-death came 51 seconds after the drop of the puck for the five-minute sudden death overtime.  The League Leader in Goals Sam Mattie for the Bulldogs opened the game’s scoring on the power-play 6:13 into the first with his 15th of the season, before Carson tied it for Pictou 42 seconds later.  Carson’s 2nd goal was the only one of the second period and Ben MacLellan’s goal for the Bulldogs was the only one in the third.  The Jr. Bulldogs are now 12-0-1 for 25 points, 10 ahead of the second place Membertou Jr. Miners in the Sid Rowe Division.  The Bulldogs travel to East Hants for a showdown with the Penguins Friday night at 7:30 in Lantz.  The Pens are at 7-5 and will conclude their season-series with the Jr. Bulldogs having lost to them back in Antigonish on Oct 10 7-5. The Bulldogs will be back on home ice Sun Nov 28 for a 7:00 p.m. start against the Brookfield Elks.  Pictou meanwhile this weekend will conclude their 4 game regular season series with the Cumberland County Blues in Springhill Friday evening as they attempt to sweep the Blues.  The Scotians won the opening three outscoring the Blues 13-2.

 
Eskasoni  4     Port Hawkesbury  1
 
The Strait Pirates in their past three games are now 0-2-1 after being upended by the Jr. Eagles 4-1 Sunday in Eskasoni.  The Canadian Tire Strait Pirates were coming off a difficult 3-2 overtime loss in East Hants Friday evening after losing the previous weekend in a shocker to Brookfield as the Elks beat them 6-5 with a goal with less than a minute to play.  Port Hawkesbury is now 6-3-1 while Eskasoni with the win improved to 4-9-0.  Thomas Simon scored three times for the Jr. Eagles, hiss first proving to be the game winner, 1:36 into the second period.  He then scored on the power-play with 8:08 left in regulation to make it 3-1 Eagles and then put one into an empty net with 31 seconds left to make the final 4-1.  Kinnon Williams put the Jr. Eagles up 1-0 mid-way through the first before Jayden Muise tied it for the Strait Pirates 1:36 later in the first.  Both teams will play the Valley Maple Leafs at home in their next games with the Canadian Tire Strait Pirates hosting the Leafs Friday night while the Jr. Eagles will host the Maple Leafs in the conclusion of their three-game Cape Breton trip Sunday afternoon in Eskasoni.
Nov 23, 2021
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Blazers win their 10th of season, Blues sideline Elks

The Sackville Blazers continued their winning weekend at home Saturday evening by doubling the Membertou Jr. Miners 6-3.  Degen Noble notched the game winning goal, his 11th of the season, 23 seconds into the third period for the Blazers.  The Blazers opened up a 2-1 lead after one on a power-play goal from Noah Healy and another from Daniel Surrette.  Nathan MacMillan scored for the Jr. Miners in between the two goals.  Nathaniel Fuller with the first of his 2 on the evening tied it up for the Jr. Miners at 2-2 with 6:52 having elapsed in the second but Mitchell Comeau’s goal 1:46 later gave the Blazers a lead they never looked back on.  Comeau also helped out with assists on 3 other Blazers goals.  Following Noble’s game winner, Jack Walsh made it  5-2 Blazers before Fuller scored his second of the game.  The final goal of the contest went to Brian Grandy who scored short-handed.  Membertou outshot the Blazers 41-33.  This concluded the season series between the Jr. Miners and Blazers as the Jr. Miners won the first game on their home ice 6-4 back in October.  Sackville going into their game Monday Nov 22 against the Capstone Colts hold a down a 10-3-1 mark for 21 points and first place in the Fred fox Division, 7 ahead of both East Hants and Liverpool.

 
The Cumberland County Blues won their third game of the season and are now 3-8-1 on the year after doubling up the Brookfield Elks 4-2 Saturday afternoon in Brookfield.  The Blues jumped in front 2-0, after the clubs played a scoreless first periodon, on goals from Daniel MacKenzie and Jacob Estabrooks before Ben Fraser brought the Elks back to within 1 at the end of the second period.  Zack Gould scored the game winner for the Blues 3:13 into the third period to make it 3-1 before Connor Miller of the Elks on the power-play brought his team back to within a goal.  It stayed that way until Alex Griffith put one into an empty Elks net with 7 seconds remaining in regulation to make the final 4-2.
Nov 22, 2021
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Bulldogs express rolls on, Pens win in OT

The AA Munro Antigonish Jr. Bulldogs just keep on winning, their latest coming at home Friday evening Nov 19, 8-5 over the Cumberland County Blues.  The Jr. Bulldogs received two goals from the League’s Leading point getter this season Fearghus MacDonald as he scored two of the Bulldogs first three goals.  MacDonald now has 11 goals on the season.  Darren Waterman and Will Fitzsimmons scored the other first period goals while Burke Beed and Aidan McBurnie tallied for the Blues who trailed by two goals after the first 4-2 and 6-4 after two periods.  Ryan MacLellan and Connor Doherty put the Bulldogs up 6-2 before the second period was even five minutes old.  Doherty’s goal proved to be the game winner as the Blues Ezekiel Cormier and Jacob Estabrooks scored power-play goals for the Blues.  The Bulldogs recorded their 12th consecutive win and have yet to lose this season, took a 4 goal lead again with goals from Sam Mattie, his league leading 14th and Sam MacNeil who also recorded three assists.  Jayden Matheson added a short-handed marker for the Blues with 1:24 left in regulation.  The Jr. Bulldogs outshot the Blues 39-31.  They lead the league in goals scored with 65 and are averaging 5.4 a game.  The game was rugged with 155 penalty minutes being dished out including 7 misconducts, 2 game misconducts, 2 fighting majors and a match penalty.  Antigonish will travel to Trenton Sunday night for a clash with the Scotians.

 
East Hants  3     Port Hawkesbury  2  (Sudden-Death Overtime)
 
The Penguins fell behind 2-0 at home in Lantz but recovered to record their 7th win in 12 games thanks to Logan Colter’s goal with only 37 seconds left in overtime.  Cullen MacEachern gave the Strait a 1-0 lead after one period and Gregor Yoell’s goal put the Canadian Tire Pirates up 2-0 after forty minutes.  1:47 into the final period, Bruen Fisher scored short-handed for the Penguins and then with 7:50 left Morgan Lake tied it for the Penguins to send the game into a five-minute sudden-death overtime.  AJ Guildford collected a pair of assists for the Pens who outshot the Strait Pirates 36-23.  The Pens are now idle until next Friday Nov 26 when they will take on the Jr. Bulldogs.  Depending on what transpires in Trenton Sunday Nov 21, the Pens could be facing off against a 13-0-0 Jr. Bulldogs team.  It will be the second game of the season between the two teams with Antigonish having defeated the Pens 7-5 back on Oct 10 in Antigonish.
Nov 20, 2021
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Blazers squeak by Valley, Jr. Miners outscore Colts

The Valley Maple Leafs played a disciplined game against the Sackville Blazers Friday night and after all their shortcomings this season, the Leafs actually deserved more but ended up losing 4-3 to the first place Blazers who recorded their 9th win in 13 games to date this season.  With only 2:05 being played in the opening period, Eric Wozniewicz gave the Leafs a 1-0 lead.  It stayed that way for the next 4:15 when the Blazers Alex Charest let a wrist go from the point which beat Aidan Durnford high to the left side as it went by his mask with Durnford partially on his pads in the crease.  Only 55 seconds later Degen Noble let a shot go from the face-off circle to score his 10th of the season for Sackville.  Noble with his 11th made it 3-1 Blazers on sloppy, sloppy defense by the Leafs as Noble picked the puck up to the left of Durnford after Durnford skated too far out of his net and was just making it back to the net when Noble dumped it into an almost empty net.  Play went back and forth in the opening period as the Valley was up in shots 5-4 before Sackville took command for awhile and outshot the Leafs 11-1 before the Leafs gained a new breath of life and outshot the Blazers 9-2.  Sackville had a 17-15 advantage overall in the opening frame.

 
In the second period Liam Ferguson for the Leafs scored the period’s only goal on a slap shot from the point which seemed to deflect off a stick as it went into the Blazers net but Ferguson was still given credit for the goal.  The Blazers Daniel Surrette missed on clear cut breakaway and then Mitchell Comeau picked up a loose puck for the Blazers and went in alone only to shoot it 15 feet over the Leafs net.  Brady MacLean missed a glorious scoring chance for the Leafs with the Sackville goalie down but MacLean with his stick on the puck simply could not lift it over and into the Blazers net.  The Leafs had another great chance going in 3 on 1 but Ryan MacDonald with two chances couldn’t capitalize either time.
 
In the third period, Daniel Surrette netted the game winner for the Blazers with 11:50 left as he shot from the point and it deflected at the last split second to Durnford’s left-side.  A mere 44 seconds later, the Blazers were sloppy with the puck enabling Brady MacLean to get a shot alone in front of the Blazers net to bring the Leafs back to within a goal.  However it was as close as they could get with the Blazers outshooting the Leafs 15-8 in the third period and 42-40 overall in the game.  Sackville goes right back into action at home Saturday afternoon against Membertou while the Leafs are off until their Cape Breton road trip next weekend when they will play Port Hawkesbury Friday, Membertou Saturday night and Eskasoni Sunday afternoon.
 
Membertou  7    Cole Harbour Capstone Colts  3
 
The Jr. Miners won their 7th of the season in 10 games with an easy 7-3 win over the now 3-5-0 Colts.  The Jr. Miners jumped in front 5-1 and led 5-2 after forty minutes.  Kody Groves and Coby McCarron scored first period goals for Membertou while Stephen Warwick tallied for the Colts.  The Jr. Miners went up 5-1 in the second with three consecutive goals by Josh MacKay who also added 2 assists, Nathaniel Fuller with his first of two to  go along with an assist and Blake Cox who also added an assist.  Tyler Puma scored the Colts second goal.  Josh Moore brought the colts to within a pair with 6:18 having been played in the third but Fuller with his second of the game and AJ Ley scored the Colts 6th and 7th goals.  Membertou outshot the Colts 33-30.  The Jr. Miners finish their HRM weekend road trip in Sackville Saturday evening.
Nov 20, 2021
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