Two different games were decided by 5-1 margins in the Nova Scotia Junior hockey League Friday night while a fourth was decided by two goals and another by five goals.  Let’s take a look at what transpired:

 

East Hants   5       Brookfield    1

 

The Penguins became the first 4-0-0 team in this early season after taking care of the Brookfield Elks 5-1 at home in Lantz.  The Elks fell to 1-2-0.  The Pens jumped in front 3-1 after twenty minutes and the score stayed the same through forty minutes.   Brookfield scored first on a goal by Ben Stewart but it ended being the only goal they would tally the entire evening.  The Pens followed that up with three of their own off the sticks of Devin Meagher, Noah Comeau and Ethan Hines.  Meagher’s and Comeau’s goals both came on the power-play,  Ethan Harris put the Pens by a pair with 1:53 to go in the first.  Thomas Gariepy stopped 28 of the first 31 shots he faced in the Brookfield net before he was relieved by Caleb Oulton who stopped 11 of the final 13 East Hants shots.  The Pens outshot the Elks 44-27 on the game  With no scoring in the 2nd period, it left Devin Meagher and Jayson Hanson to finish the East Hants scoring in the third.  For Meagher it was his 2nd goal of the evening to go along with an assist while Hanson was scoring his first of the evening.  Will Shield tended nets for the Penguins and he stopped 26 of the 37 shits directed his way.

 

South Shore   5      Valley Maple Leafs   1

 

Jayden Croft in the Maple Leafs net and Keegan Greencorn in the Lumberjacks net were both called on to make critical saves in the opening frame.  At one point Croft turned back at least 3 glordiuss scoring opportunities.  Meanwhile Greencorn had to stay sharp as despite the final score, the game did not get away from the Leafs until the third period.

 

The Lumberjacks scored single markers in the first and second periods on markers from Brennan Coleman and John Shubaly who both scored their first goals of the evening.  Both players also collected an assist and saw a tremendous amount of ice time.  In the third, both Coleman and Shubaly connected again before Cohen Westlake concluded the game’s scoring late in the third.  Jacob Gerhardt managed to spoil a shut-out attempt for Greencorn when he scored after the South Shore went up 4-0 with 5:23 left in regulation.  The Maple Leafs outshot the Lumberjacks 35-32 and it was not clear why Jayden Croft left the Leafs net after the first period.  Speculation centred on perhaps a muscle pull because it certainly would not have been because of his play.  Jackson Murphy played the final two periods for the Leafs stopping 13 of 17 shots while Croft in his twenty minutes blocked 14 of 15 shots.  In the Lumberjacks net, Greencorn stopped 34 of 35 shots he faced.  The South Shore will open their 24-25 home regular season tonight in Bridgewater against the 4-0-0 East Hants Penguins.  The Pens are a team the Lumberjacks roared back from a 3-0 deficit to defeat them in the opening round of the playoffs lat spring.  Game time is 7:00 p.m. in Bridgewater.

 

   

 

Sackville   5      Capstone    3

 

 

The Colts are now 2-1-0 while the Blazers evened their record at 2-2-0.  The teams were deadlocked at 1-1 after twenty minutes with Josh Nicholson scoring for the Blazers and Jack Dulong for the Colts.  The Blazers came out strong in the middle frame as after falling behind 2-1 on a power-play goal by ConnorStewart of the Colts, they rebounded with the tying goal 9 seconds later from Owen Fitzgerald, as well other markers from Lawson Cook and another power-play goal from Adam Maillet.

Trainer NcCulloch moved the Colts to within a single goal in the third before Maillet with his second of the game deposited one into an empty net with only 1:28 remaining in regulation to seal the 5-3 win.  The Blazers outshot the Colts 40-31.

 

 

Antigonish Jr. Bulldogs   7      Port Hawkesbury Strait Pirates   2

 

Two arch-rivals clashed in Port Hawkesbury Friday night but for the second weekend in a row, the Jr. Bulldogs did the majority of the clashing outscoring the Strait Pirates 7-2 after defeating them last weekend 7-0.  The teams did no scoring in the opening period but the Bulldogs came out hungry in the second scoring six unanswered goals from Tully Grant, Zachary Lorette, Venel Campbell who also added an assist, Owen Forsythe, Owen Flemming who also chipped in with a pair of assists and Ethan Twolan.  The Strait Pirates did score a couple in the third period from Blake MacDonnell and a short-handed effort from Cadyn Power before Logan McGrath scored the final goal of the game for the Jr Bulldogs to make the final 7-3.  In the two games in which the Bulldogs who are now 3-1-0, they outscored the Strait 14-2 and outshot them 73-23.  The Strait dropped to 1-2-1 and will now head to Membertou for a 7:30 encounter with the 1-2-0 Jr. Miners tonight.