By: Daniel Vazzoler
It’s safe to say Thursday didn’t begin the way Owen Bennett planned his first Jr A start in goal, but the ending is the important part as he and the Carleton Place Canadians erased an early deficit to get a 4-2 win over the Kanata Lasers.
The 16-year-old Bennett looked a little nervous to start the game, and Kanata took advantage of those nerves by jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first two minutes of the game. Spencer Van Tiem found a bouncing puck in the slot before spinning and shooting to open the scoring 1:08 into the first period. Derek St. Jean didn’t give Bennett a chance to gather himself as he converted his breakaway chance just 40 seconds after Van Tiem’s goal.
After those two goals, Bennett shut the door the rest of the way as he ended the game with 29 saves and his first career win in any junior level in what was also his first career junior game.
“I just tried to clear my mind and forget about what happened,” he said. “When the team tied it up, I was just thinking that it’s a new game and (a chance to) restart.”
The Canadians tied the game before the first intermission with goals from Cade Townend and Ben Tupker – the first goal of the season for both.
Townend got the Canadians on the board midway through the period – and didn’t even know it as his celebration had to wait until his line-mates told him he scored. Tupker tied the game with just over two minutes remaining in the first period with a power play goal as he powered his way from the corner to the front of the net to tuck the puck around Gabriel Carriere.
“Obviously it wasn’t the best feeling going down two (goals) right off the bat, but what made this game so special was that we were able to come back and battle hard,” Canadians forward Andrej Hromic said. “Always great to have the ‘W’ at the end of the day.”
Hromic helped Carleton Place pick up the win with his insurance goal in the third period, wiring a wrist shot past Carriere’s blocker. Elliott McDermott made a nice play on the rush to get the puck into the attacking zone and attempted a drop pass for Hromic. Hromic, and the Kanata defender both read the play, but Hromic lifted Connor Sleeth’s stick as he tried to pick if off, allowing Hromic the scoring chance.
The Canadians got the lead early in the third period off a goal from Peyton Francis. He and Austan Bellefeuille executed a give-and-go play in the slot, setting up Francis for a shot right between the hash-marks that beat Carriere just over his pad on the glove side.
Moving forward for Bennett, it’s unsure how many more games he’ll start this season, with Connor Murphy being the team’s number-one goalie, but he said he can use this game as a learning point as he continues to develop as a goaltender.
“I’m going to think back to how (the game) was and that I can compete at this level and that I don’t need to feel nervous.”
The Canadians play on consecutive nights as they travel to Smiths Falls for their first meeting with their rivals down Highway 15. The Canadians head into that game four points up on the Bears, who have a 3-3-0-1 record in their first seven games of the season.
