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League News
Blazers down Pens with 4 goal third
The Sackville Blazers moved one game over .500 in this 22-23 NSJHL Season with a four goal third period explosion in Lantz Friday night to hand the Penguins their first loss in regulation this season. The Blazers led 2-1 after twenty minutes and the two teams were tied 3-3 after 40 before Duggan Gauthier, Davon Geddes, Zachary Jenkins and Jaden Hardie tallied in the third period to give the Blazers their win and put them into third place in the Fred Fox Division at 8-7-1 going into their Saturday afternoon game in Brookfield. The game was only two minutes old when Devin Meagher gave the Pens a 1-0 lead but Tyler Pottier and Will Meek then scored to give the Blazers their lead after one. Degen Noble made it 3-1 Blazers in the second before Brody Fraser and Sean Freeman tied the game at 3-3 entering the third. The Penguins did outshoot the Blazers 34-32. Sackville now head to Brookfield Saturday hoping to increase their 3rd place lead on the fourth place 7-5-1 Elks.
Valley Maple Leafs 7 Brookfield Elks 1
Speaking of the Elks, the Leafs had Owen McCarron back in their line-up for the first time this season and it certainly showed as he scored 4 goals while showing no signs of recovering from a broken arm leading the Leafs to their 2nd win of the season before a significant audience in Windsor at the West Hants Sportsplex. The Leafs took no hostages from the opening face-off starting strong, outshooting the Elks 9-0 before scoring on their 10th, a tremendous 2 on 1 on the power play as Robbie Dowell fed McCarron who had no trouble putting it into the net. In fact McCarron may have had five goals as he was on a breakaway with time expiring in the second period and the buzzer went before he had a chance to get a shot off. Just when it looked like the Elks might tie it at 1-1, the Leafs Kayden Kuryluk sidelined the Elks Ben Stewart with a check just as Stewart was about to get the puck all alone in front of the Leafs net. Carter Graves let a hard wrist shot go to put the Leafs up 2-0 with 12:08 to play in the opening period. Robbie Dowell made a fantastic pass over to Carter Graves who was in the clear but Graves could not connect. Ben Stewart then had another great chance for the Elks as he went in alone but was stymied by Leafs net minder Aidan Durnford. With 4:26 to play, McCarron scored his second of the game on a beautiful pass from Dylan Schofield. Dylan Keefe and Ethan Salsman went in 2 on 1 on Durnford but they could not connect in front of a wide open net. Hayden Richardson with a rifle shot between centre ice and the Elks blue line made it 4-0 Leafs at with 39 seconds left in the first period. Leafs outshot the Elks 25-16 in the opening period.
In the second period, Dylan Schofield and Robbie Dowell went in 2 on 1 but Dowell was stopped point blank in front of the Elks net. Some excellent stick handling by the Leafs Brady MacLean with less than three minutes gone in the second period put the Valley up 5-0. The Leafs were outshooting the Elks 34-18 five minutes into the second period. McCarron then dished a pass off to Hayden Richardson but a dynamite save was made by the Elks goalie. The Leafs did not give the Elks any breathing room as Nick Oickle went down on a hard wrist shot and made a tremendous block for the Leafs. He certainly felt it as it showed as he was leaving the ice. Brady Whitman was robbed blind in front of the Leafs net and the Elks still trailed 5-0. McCarron scored his 3rd of the evening for the Leafs on the power-play with 4:54 left in the second period to make it 6-0 after two. The Valley outshot the Elks 19-9 in the middle period. The teams exchanged goals in the final period with McCarron scoring his fourth of the game and Dylan Keefe connecting for the Elks. The Leafs outshot the Elks 14-11 in the final frame and a total of 58-36 for the game. The Leafs head to Liverpool Saturday afternoon.
Port Hawkesbury 5 Pictou County 2
The Scotians suffered their third consecutive loss, this one a 5-2 decision in Port Hawkesbury Friday night. Keir Jordan scored once and added three assists for the 8-4-1 Strait who moved into third place over the now 8-6-0 Scotians. Cadyn Power added a pair for the Strait with singles going to Owen Stockdale and Cameron J. MacDonald. Jordan and MacDonald’s goals came 19 seconds part before the game was 3 minutes old. The Strait’s other 3 came in the second as they took a 5-0 lead after forty minutes. Nate Supryka and Cale MacLaughlin tallied for the Scotians in the third. The Strait outshot Pictou 42-24.
Antigonish 12 Cumberland 2
The Jr. Bulldogs crept to within a single point of first place in the Sid Rowe Division with their pounding of the Blues in Antigonish Friday night. Will Fitzsimmons scored his 9th, 10th and 11th goals of the season for the Jr. Bulldogs while also collecting a pair of assists for five points. Darren Waterman also added a five point night with a goal and 4 assists while Zachary Lorette scored three times and added one assist. Single goals for the Bulldogs were scored by Sam Grant, Will Mierau, Connor Doherty, Noah Harrison and Jacob Cook. The 9-3-0 Bulldogs outshot the Blues 38-31 and held period leads of 6-0 and 11-2. Burke Beed and Callum MccLelllan tallied for Cumberland.