GrayJay Sports
League News
Elks win in OT
t took an extra week to recover from Fiona but the 2022-23 Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League Season finally began on three fronts Friday evening with only one pad due to Fiona and that was between the Membertou Jr. Miners and last year’s Nova Scotia Junior League Champions the Antigonish Jr. Bulldogs. The following is a rundown of play from opening night:
Brookfield 6 East Hants 5 (Overtime)
The Elks tirelessly work to put a competitive team on the ice and have not had much luck in recent season, whether last night’s 6-5 overtime win over the 21-22 League Championship Finalists the East Hants Penguins is any indication, things could be looking up in Brookfield. The game played at the Keith Miller Arena at the East Hants Sportsplex was a head scratcher from the work go with the teams tied 1-1 after one period, the Elks ahead 3-2 after forty minutes before a flurry of six goals in the third and overtime periods gave the Elks the win. The Penguins went in front 4-3 with 13:06 left in regulation before the Elks came back to grab a 5-4 lead with 2:08 left on a goal from Cale McClellan before Noah Comeau forced overtime with his goal for the Penguins to knot the game at 5-5 with 49 seconds remaining. It only took 51 seconds of overtime hockey in the five-minute sudden-death for the Elks McClellan netted his second of the evening to give Brookfield the win. Other Elk goal scorers were Ben Fraser with a pair while Will and Ben Stewart each scored once. For East Hants, Nathaniel Wotton and Logan Colter scored in the first and second periods while Bruen Fisher on the power-play, Ethan Wheeler and Comeau did the offensive damage. East Hants outshot the Elks 56-36 but Pablo Larrinaga stood on his head and upside down for the Elks in stopping 51 of the 56 shots he faced. Luke MacDonald assisted on thee of the six Brookfield markers while Marshall Plandowski collected 3 assists on the Pens five goals. Bruen Fisher also added a pair of assists for the Pens in addition to his power-play goal.
East Hants will return to action Sunday night at home against the Valley Maple Leafs at 7:30 as they will play a make-up game that was ppd last Friday due to Fiona while the Elks will play in Sackville Monday night.
Ellis 4 goals in 7-1 Strait Pirates win over Cumberland:
Matthew Ellis scored three of the last four Strait Pirate goals in Port Hawkesbury’s 7-1 win over the Cumberland County Blues. The Blues struck early on the power-play, only 1:22 into the contest when Colby Titus put the Blues up 1-0. After that it was all Strait Pirates as Drew MacDonald tied the game 2:10 later and then with 5:49 left to play in the opening period Jason Johnson’s goal on the power-play proved to be the game winner. Ellis with his first of the game made it 3-1 after twenty minutes. Just 43 seconds into the middle frame, Ellis on the power-play made it 4-1 before adding another power-play marker 3:09 into the third. Zach Binotto and then Ellis on a penalty shot rounded out the scoring for the Strait Pirates. Danny Ellis and Gregor Yoell both recorded 3 assists for the Pirates who outshot Cumberland 34-23. The Blues move onto Membertou Saturday night for a 7:30 start with the Jr. Miners before completing their weekend trip at Eskasoni Sunday afternoon.
Leafs fall 4-1 to Colts:
At C.F.B. Shearwater, the Capstone Colts scored a 4-1 win over the Valley Maple Leafs. The teams traded a pair of goals in the opening frame with Veteran Brayden Hooper-Richard scoring only 1:45 after the opening face-off before Hayden Richardson on the power-play tied it for the Maple Leafs with less than six minutes having elapsed in the opening period. In the second period Kyler Manuel, Liam Andrews and Brayden Hooper-Richard with his second of the night made it 4-1 at the end of the second for the Colts. The third period saw no scoring. The Colts outshot the Leafs 35-22 with Trayner McCulloch assisiting of on 2 of the 4 Colt goals.