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Playoff Positioning getting so tight
Playoff positioning became even tighter Tuesday evening as three games were played in the Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League with very few teams knowing their first round opponents. The following is a recap:
South Shore Lumberjacks 6 Brookfield Elks 4
The Lumberjacks stayed within reach of first place in the Fred Fox Division as they battled the Brookfield Elks and scored three third period goals to pull out the 6-4 win. The teams were deadlocked at 2-2 after one period and 3-3 after forty minutes before the Lumberjacks showed who was boss in the third period. Owen Cleary, Cohen Westlake and Alec Howie all scored in the final period of regulation to give the Lumberjacks their win. Howie’s goal was an insurance marker with 3:24 left. The first period saw Elijah Leinwand and Alec Howie put South Shore up 2-0 before Ben Stewart and Keegan Macumber scored to tie the game for Brookfield. William Singer put the Elks ahead 3-2 in the second before Joe Osborne’s goal with under three minutes to play in the middle frame tied the game again, this time at 3-3. The Lumberjacks owned the third period however as Owen Cleary followed by Cohen Westlake’s 17th goal of the season gave the South Shore a 5-3 lead. Macumber’s 2nd goal for the Elks brought the home team back to within 1 before Alec Howie’s power-play goal put the game away and gave the Lumberjacks their 6-4 win. South Shore outshot the Elks 54-39. Westlake now has 38 points and is 6 back of Pictou’s Nate Supryka. Westlake still has a chance at the scoring title as South Shore still has two games remaining in their schedule while Pictou has concluded their regular season at 15-16-1.
Pictou 2 Port Hawkesbury 1
The Scotians regular season concluded in the Strait with a hard-fought 2-1 verdict over the Pirates who did hold a 31-24 shots advantage. Wyatt Spence of the Scotians and Luke Baldwin for the Strait Pirates had the game tied at 1 after twenty minutes. It was all the scoring in the game until Cale McLaughlin’s game winner for Pictou in the third period. The loss dropped the Strait Pirates back into third place in the Rowe Division at 17-12-1 as they continue to slug it out with Membertou for home ice advantage in the opening round of the playoffs.
Membertou Jr. Miners 3 Antigonish 2
The Jr. Miners staged a furious three-goal rally to nose out the Bulldogs in Antigonish as the Bulldogs lost their third game in four starts since last weekend. Will Fitzsimmons and Ethan Twolan put the Bulldogs up 2-0 before Alex MacKinnon scored for the Jr. Miners who went to the dressing room trailing 2-1 after forty minutes. Mitchell MacDonald’s power-play goal with 7:27 remaining in regulation tied the game at 2-2 and Jarrett Hicks scored the game winner for Membertou with under four minutes left in regulation. The Jr. Miners are now 18-10-1 for 37 points and have a game in hand on the Pirates. Antigonish who outshot the Jr. Miners 48-32 are now 25-4-2 on the season and will face Pictou in the opening round of the playoffs.