GrayJay Sports
League News
Privateers closing in on playoff-berth
The Liverpool Privateers go into Brookfield Tuesday night to play their 29th game of the Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League’s regular season and while it has been a battle, the Privateers are on the brink of clinching third place in the Fred Fox Division with a win over the Elks. To say the job will be easy is considerably far from the truth as the Privateers hold a 3-2-0 regular season record against the Elks, who finished 2-3-0 versus the Privateers including a 4-2 win in Liverpool Saturday night. The Privateers have outscored the Elks 14-12 in the I’ve games played between the two clubs this winter. The Privateers with a win would clinch third place while leaving Sackville and Brookfield to fight it out for the fourth and final playoff position. The Privateers did not know the position they would be until they cut the legs out from the Valley Maple Leafs on the Holiday Monday by a 6-1 score. Dylan Patterson and Alec Howie had exceptional games for Liverpool with Patterson scoring twice and assisting on two others while Alec Howie scored once and added three helpers. Carson Gallant also added a goal and a pair of assists. Other Privateers goal scorers who held period leads of 2-1 and 4-1 were Malcom Bussey and Aaron McWilliams. Camden Pellerine scored the lone Leafs goal. A win tonight assure the Privateers of having an above .500 record on the season as they improved as they improved to 14-12-2 with the win. A win for the Elks tonight will pull them within 2 points of the 13-13-3 Sackville Blazers who conclude their season Friday night in Windsor against the Leafs.
Sackville Blazers 4 Capstone Colts 1
The Blazers won their 13th game of the season in 29 starts and are hanging onto fourth place to their best of their ability as they dropped the Capstone Colts 4-1 at home Monday night. The game was an excellent one from start to finish with hard skating, plenty of shots and some solid hitting. The goaltending was also superb. The Colts goalie Joshua McCarther had to be extra sharp in the early going as he made 2-3 critical saves as the Blazers came out flying and not giving the Colts an inch and outshooting them 8-1 in the opening six minutes. Degen Noble of the Blazers streaked down the right side and slipped through the Colt defence when he reached the face-off circle but McCarther was sharp and made a good save. Duggan Gauthier was then denied on a great pass from Will Meek of the Blazers but McCarther made a stupendous pad save to keep the game scoreless. The Colts finally started to roll and were all over the Sackville net with 7:00 to go in the opening frame and Blazers goalie Ben Etsell was forced to come up with three back to back spectacular saves. The Blazers were very crisp with their passing throughout the first before making their first huge mistake when they gave it away in their own end and the Colts Will MacRae missed in close. Before the first period concluded, the Blazers Ryan MacDonald streaked down the right side and made a pass across in front of the net but it was to no avail. The Blazers outshot the Colts 19-18 in a fantastic period of hockey which was scoreless after one.
In the second the Colts Liam Andrews broke down the left side but Etsell came up with another brilliant pad save. Then with a mad scramble in front of the Colts net with players in and all around McCarther, Ryan MacIntyre scored to put the Blazers up 1-0. Sackville was then forced to play two men short with 4:57 remaining in the second but their penalty killing was aggressive and both penalties were killed off. The Colts were then given a controversial minor for two many men on the ice with only 1:02 to play in the second. The Blazers outshot the Colts 11-10 and held a 30-28 shots advantage after two periods.
The Colts Benjamin Veinot shortly after missed very close in front for the Colts. Zachary Jenkins then made a beautiful pass over to Ryan MacDonald and the Blazers were up 2-0. Riley Henman then brought the Colts back to within a goal with a snap wrist shot after the Blazers had given up the puck in their own end. The Blazers just kept skating and hitting and 1:54 later they were back up 3-1 on a goal from Bryson Currie. Degen Noble made it 4-1 Sackville before the game concluded as he took a terrific pass from Daniel Surette and deking McCarther. Bryson Currie then tried to make it 5-1 Blazers as he went around two Colts defenders only to be denied by McCarther. The Blazers outshot the Colts 14-10 in the final period for a game total of 44-38 in favour of the Blazers. then had a wide open chance but he failed to score as did Riley Henman of the Colts when he snapped a wrist shot after the Blazers gave it away in their own end but Henman failed to find the back of the net.
The battle for first place goes down to the Colts and East Hants final two games this weekend with the Colts hosting East Hants Friday and travelling to Liverpool Saturday while the Penguins conclude their regular season in Brookfield Saturday afternoon. The 22-5-1 Colts presently lead the 20-5-3 Penguins by two points in the race for first in the Fox Division.