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Colts move into a tie for first in Fox Division
Make no mistake about it, we are in a for a wild finish to find out playoff seedings in the Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League. After play Friday night on three fronts, there is now a tie for first in the Fred Fox Division while the South Shore Lumberjacks are just 4 points out of first in the Fox Division with two games in hand on both the Penguins and the Colts. The following is a recap of play Friday night:
South Shore 5 East Hants 3
The Lumberjacks won their 15th game in 19 starts defeating the Penguins in Lantz by a score of 5-3. East Hants played a strong game but the goals were obtainable for the Lumberjacks despite having only 25 shots on net. The Penguins meanwhile fired 36 shots at winning goaltender Keegan Greencorn.
Two of the Five Lumberjack goals were scored on the power-play by Brennan Coleman and Cohen Westlake while Nick Veinot tallied a power-play marker for the Penguins. All three goals coming in the opening two periods giving the Lumberjacks a 2-1 lead after forty minutes. The game opened up in the third period with the Lumberjacks Daniel LeBlanc scoring twice including the game winner with 6:42 left in regulation. Joe Osborne added the third goal of the period for the South Shore while Devin Meagher scored his 20th of the season and Jayson Hanson for the Penguins in their losing effort. The Penguins are now tied with Colts with identical 17-4-1 records for 35 points while the Lumberjacks are 15-4-1 for 31 points and have a chance at home Saturday, January 13 (tonight) at 7:00 p.m. to move within two points of the respective first place teams, when they host the 6-14-0 Valley Maple Leafs.
Colts 5 Valley Maple Leafs 1
With the Colts win and the Penguins loss, the two teams are deadlocked for first in the Fox with identical records. The Leafs got on the board first and were giving the Colts everything they could handle in the opening period before their play began to slip considerable in the second and third. Ryan Welch’s power-play goal tied the game at 1-1 for the Colts as the teams went to their dressing rooms after one. The Colts scored their second goal to take a 2-1 lead in the middle frame as Riley Henman connected in front of the net with the Leafs providing next to no coverage for their goaltender Jackson Murphy. In the third after Head Coach Jamie Leighton had told an interviewer at the conclusion of the second, "his club was just a half-step behind the Colts in their skating and they would have to improve on it in the third.” Unfortunately this did not happen as the Colts scored three unanswered goals from Cooper Puma, Cole Good and Dylan Ross to seal their 5-1 win. The Colts outshot the Leafs 48-28. Conar Brace blocked 27 of 28 shots for the Colts while Jackson Murphy despite allowing the five goals still turned away 43 of 48 shots.
Antigonish 10 Eskasoni 2
If it were not for the first period in Antigonish Friday night, the score would have 2-2 but unfortunately for the Jr. Eagles, they had to play the opening period first and this is when the wheels fell off the tractor as the Bulldogs took a commanding 8-0 leader after the first intermission. Zachary Lorette scored four times for the Jr. Bulldogs netting two in the first and two more later on. Tully Grant finished with a 4 point night on a goal and three assists with other single goals going to Nick Marshall, Ethan Towlan, Logan McGrath, Will Fitzsimmons netted his 12th of the season, and Sam Grant his 10th. Joshua Novak and Noah MacKinnon replied for the Jr. Eagles who remain one point back of the Pictou County Scotians in the race to the wire for the fourth and final playoff position in the Sid Rowe Division. Antigonish improved to 22-1-1.