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Pens rally in OT to defeat Elks
What an unbelievable season to date for the Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League as playoff races are wide open, teams you thought would be doing far better are not and teams you thought would be doing far worse are not cooperating either. A total of 4 games were played Friday night and here is the rundown:
East Hants 5 Brookfield 4
These two clubs were involved in another nail biter with the Elks taking a 4-2 lead after two periods only to allow the Penguins to tie it with a pair goals in the third and then win it 33 seconds into overtime on a goal from Logan Colter to give the 11-2-2 Penguins a 5-4 comeback win and move to within one point of the Capstone Colts for first place in the Fred Fox Division. The teams were scoreless after one period but the Pens went up 2-0 on goals from Bruen Fisher and Devin Meagher 58 seconds apart in the first part of the second period. The Elks roared back with four consecutive goals, two from Luke Jansen-Fraught and Dylan Keefe 19 seconds apart at the mid-way mark of the second. In a span of 1:05 late in the second, Will Stewart and Ben Fraser with a short-handed effort put the 9-5-2 Elks up 4-2 after forty minutes. Devin Meagher then brought the Pens back to within one goal in the third before Nick Veinot tied it for the Pens with 4:51 remaining in regulation. It only took 33 seconds into the five-minute sudden-death overtime period for Logan Colter to give the Pens a 5-4 win. East Hants outshot Brookfield 40-24.
Antigonish 3 Pictou 2
For the second time in six nights, these two clubs met, this time in Antigonish. It was only last Sunday night when the Scotians won 2-1 in overtime in Trenton but this time the 10-3-1 Jr. Bulldogs were able to win 3-2 in a shoot-out after Luke Baldwin was the only successful scorer in three opportunities per team. Baldwin also added two assists for the Bulldogs. The Jr. Bulldogs led 1-0 after the first period on Ethan Twolan’s goal. The teams were tied 2-2 after forty minutes after Zachary Lorette notched the second Jr. Bulldogs goal to make it 2-0 before Camdyn Burgess tallied 49 seconds later to pull the Scotians to within 1. Carter Hood tied it for the Scotians at 2-2 with less than four minutes to go in the second. The teams could not register a goal in the third despite the Jr. Bulldogs outshooting the Scotians 60-27.
Valley Maple Leafs 7 Sackville 2
The Leafs jitney-engine has suddenly turned into a Rolls-Royce Engine as they register their third straight win to give them four wins on the season 7-2 over the inconsistent 8-10-1 Sackville Blazers. The Blazers jumped in front 2-0 on goals from Will Meek and Chase Guthro before the period was five minutes old but it was all the scoring the Blazers would do for the remainder of the evening. Blake Deacon’s power-play goal and Terran Baillie with 48 seconds left in the first period tied it for the Leafs at the end of the first. The Leafs went up 4-2 after forty minutes on goals from Brent Levy and Ben McCarthy, They continued with their domination of the Blazers with three third period goals from Andrew McCarron, his 7th in three games, Blake Deacon with his second of the game on the power-play and Connor Deluney. Robbie Dowell played a huge role as well registering 3 assists for the Leafs. The Leafs outshot the Blazers 46-30.
Port Hawkesbury 5 Membertou 2
Just when you think the 7-9-0 Jr. Miners are set to go on a roll, they come up with a disappointing finish as they were defeated by the Port Hawkesbury Strait Pirates in the Strait Friday evening 5-2. Blake Cox and Matthew Ellis exchanged goals 18 seconds apart mid-way through the opening period to leave the teams tied at 1-1 before Owen Stockdale scored short-handed with 6:31 left in the first to give the Strait a 2-1 lead after one period. Stockdale then scored on the power-play to put the Strait up 3-1 for 21 seconds before Landon Clark scored the Jr. Miners second goal of the game. The 9-5-1 Strait Pirates put the game away with a pair of goals in the third from Matthew Raike and Brady MacNeill. The teams were tied 37-37 in shots on the evening.