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Antigonish finishes 21-0-1
Bulldogs finish regular season without losing in regulation
Anyone who has ever played the game can remember dramatic moments in this great game of hockey, too many to mention but examples such as Team Canada’s 5-0 lead over the Russians which they blew in the third period of the 2010 World Jr. Men’s Hockey Championship in Buffalo, New York is one, the classic East Hants-Liverpool series which saw numerous overtimes in the opening round of the 2019-2020 opening round of our League Playoffs before Covid hit is another.
Another dramatic moment came Sunday evening in Antigonish where the Jr. Bulldogs were trying to become the first team in an eternity not to lose a regular season game in regulation. They entered the contest against the Cumberland County Blues with a record of 20-0-1, fell behind 4-1 with slightly more than 6 minutes to play in the opening period, tied it at 4-4 by the end of the second period before Burke Beed put the Blues in front once again 5-4 with just over 6 minutes having been played in the third period. Fans in attendance at the Antigonish Arena were hanging on tight as with 59.23 having been played, the Blues were still up 5-4 but with 36 seconds remaining in regulation Sam Mattie scored his 21st goal of the season to tie the game at 5-5. The game went to overtime and with 1:21 remaining in the five minute sudden-death period, Jake MacDonald scored for the Jr. Bulldogs to give them a 6-5 win and enabled his club to finish the regular season at 21-0-1. Their only loss all season came in overtime to arch-rival the Pictou County Scotians 3-2. The Scotians and Jr. Bulldogs have first round byes and advance to the Best-of-Seven Divisional Semi-Finals.
Other Bulldog Goal Scorers Sunday were Will Fitzsimmons with a pair, Connor Doherty and Craig Landry. For the Blues who finished 5-13-2 on the season, Been also scored the Blues first goal of the game with single markers going to Ezekiel Cormier, Jayden Matheson and a short-handed marker by Aidan Fisher. The Jr. Bulldogs outshot the Blues 41-24. The Blues now advance to a Best-of-Five Mini Series against the Membertou Jr. Miners. Elsewhere Sunday:
Pictou 3 Membertou 2 (Shoot-Out)
The Pictou County Scotians recorded their 11th win in 16 games to close the season with a 3-2 shoot-out win over the Membertou Jr. Miners in Trenton. It was quite a shoot-out as 8 shots were required and on the 8th shot, Matt Carson connected to make the final 3-2 Pictou. The game almost didn’t go to overtime as the Jr. Miners were up 2-1 with 34 seconds to play when Matt Chediac scored to tie the game 2-2. The game was tied 1-1 until the Jr. Miners Andrew McCarron put Membertou up 2-1 with only 2:31 left in regulation. Blake Cox gave the Jr. Miners a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal less than two minutes i to the opening period before Cal Marner tied it for the Scotians with 11 minutes to play in the second. Membertou outshot the Scotians 42-37. The Jr. Miners will now play the Blues in a Best-of-Five Mini Series.
Port Hawkesbury 4 Eskasoni 3
These same two clubs will open their Best-of-Five Mini Series in the Strait Tuesday night beginning at 7:30 but they concluded their regular season with the Pirates defeating the Jr. Eagles 4-3 at the Dan K. Stevens Memorial Arena in Eskasoni Sunday night. Gregor Yoell and Jayden Muise scored for the Pirates in the opening period while Curtis Novak scored the first of his two in the game to give the Pirates a 2-1 advantage after one. Jack Neilsen made 3-1 the Strait in the final minute of the second period. The Jr. Eagles Nicholas Pastuck brought his club back to within a goal mid-way through the third. Luke Hadley notched the game winner for the Strait with less than three minutes remaining in regulation before Novak made it a one-goal final with just 23 seconds left in regulation. The Strait Pirates outshot the Jr. Eagles 42-27. It was the third game of the regular season between the two clubs with the Strait winning previously 8-5 and 4-3 and the Jr. Eagles winning 4-1 meaning the Strait outscored Eskasoni 13-12 in their three regular-season games.